The last Christmas

This is our last Christmas just the two of us. Unless Sophia decides to make her debut tonight or tomorrow, that is. Next year we will have a toddler who will be fast approaching a year old. No present or Christmas tree ornament will be safe. I will be waking up at 5am just to do Christmas baking (instead of 7am like I did today). We will spending Christmas Eve nights putting together insanely complicated kid things that even IKEA cannot compete with in terms of parts and pieces and instructions. So much will be different next year. As I am typing this there is this amazing tiny person rolling around in my stomach trying to wiggle to find more room (she is definitely cramped in there) or just saying good morning to me. Justin asked me the other day if I thought it would be weird to not be pregnant. As I thought about it I got a little sad bc I love feeling her roll around. I love that right now I do not have to share my baby girl with anyone. She is all mine and I am all hers. I provide everything she needs and she knows that all her needs are met by me. I am all she knows. And I cherish that. I am not a very good baby sharer. I don't like to let someone else hold a baby that I am holding. I don't offer to let others hold a baby I am holding. I will try to be better about sharing my daughter though. But I know it will be a struggle at first. This Christmas she is still all mine and mine alone though :)

I am about to be a for real mom...

As opposed to an almost mom/pregnant lady.  We are 2weeks and 5days from Sophia's due date. But there is a chance that she will be here within the next 10-12days! So far everything looks great with her and me - she is just a tad big. She has dropped and the doctor was able to feel her head. They are talking about induction at 39 weeks (1week 5days away!) but will sweep my membrane next Friday if I have started dilating. If that works I could go into labor within 72hours of the stripping! This could be the last weekend as a not mommy. This time next week I could be holding this little girl or in the midst of labor. I am excited and scared and anxious and in denial. I am not scared of the labor part (I am not looking forward to it by any means). I am scared of how much this precious baby is going to rock my world - in a totally awesome way. I cannot fathom the changes that will come with her delivery. And that terrifies me at an emotional level.

5 and counting

I am down to almost the 5 week mark. And I feel it! I waddle and get out of breath so quickly now. Breathing is harder too. I feel lucky that I have made it this far with no real issues. I have 3 weeks left at work and I am going to try and walk everyday for 20 minutes. In fact, I am walking right now! Although, I am not it can be considered walking when you are moving slower than a turtle :)

I go for an ultrasound Friday to see if Sophia has flipped. I am 98% sure that she hasn't though. Or if she has, it was not the right way. She just likes to be snuggled next to my heart - rotten already!

We put up our Christmas tree last night and realized that this is the last year for a while that we don't have to worry about what ornaments are on bottom. So many things will change once the is here. So crazy and exciting.

My heartburn is not quite as constant - but when it comes back (at night when I am asleep) it is way more intense. Thankfully Tums helps.

6 and...

One more week down. Sophia's head is not (down). Time is going by quickly but I am more concerned with the Christmas tree skirt that I now don't think I will finish before we get our tree unless we put off getting said tree until the week after Thanksgiving. But if we wait, that only gives me 2.5 weeks with my tree which makes me very sad. I am quite annoyed with Thanksgiving this year and its selfish decision to take away one of my weeks before Christmas.

Back to things related to Sophia and not my issues with only having 3.5 weeks between Turkey day and Christmas...

She is doing great! Her heartbeat is strong and she is constantly wiggling (for the most part). I am feeling pretty good most of the time. Battling being tired a lot and some heartburn but it has been manageable.

Can't wait to need this little girl! She is definitely going to be a world rocker for us.

7weeks and counting

Oh my! We are officially less than 8 weeks til due date. I cannot believe it. The countdown  is flying by now. I am a whirlwind of exhaustion and list making and trying to get ready. I am confident that I will forget something important because I am so tired and my brain is on constant jump mode in an attempt to remember everything. I am not going to stress about it though - Sophia has clothes, diapers, a place to sleep, a carseat and hopefully mommy-made food. Everything else is just to make things easier, right?

I feel huge and my heartburn is getting really bad (and more random than before). I am, however, so glad it is fall/winter and not summer. I have been burning up despite the really cold weather. I feel for the mothers of summer babies. Otherwise, I am still feeling pretty good - just more tired than I expected to be. But I do love my sleep so it pays off :)

2/3 there!

So today marks the beginning of the end. And I am not sad about it at all! I just hope I can make it through these next 13 weeks. I feel good for the most part. I am starting to be uncomfortable more often than not though. The bulk of the discomfort is on my left side - rib cage. I am wondering if my ribs are expanding and causing some muscle tears. The nurse tried to tell me it was heartburn several weeks back when it hurt but I refuse to think that is the culprit. I get heartburn - I know what it feels like and how to control it. THIS IS NOT HEARTBURN! The only relief I get is if I lay on my left side with a pillow under in my side or if I stretch my arm way up.

I am sitting at the dentist office - not an exciting event for sure. We (my hygenist and I) have pushed back my cleaning 2 times because I just didn't think I could handle it in the first or second trimesters without tossing cookies. Hopefully I will survive this. She is patient and already knows how much I dislike these visits to begin with so being 27 weeks pregnant is just icing.

We got to do a 3D/4D ultrasound last week and see Sophia. She was being a little stubborn (faher's daughter...) but we were able to see her little face which made me super happy. She looks like she will have the Combs eyes and the Cook nose. We think she is pretty adorable :) She is staying pretty low and usually spine up. This makes it harder to feel kicks but it means she is close to the position she will need to be in make her grand entrance which I like! I still feel her kick several times a day and she responds to music and position  changes so I don't worry about the lack of feeling her kick all the time.

Still no major cravings but I looooove baked potatoes right now! They make me all kinds of happy. Weight gain is still minimal which I am so happy about. 12 pounds so far. I am hoping I can keep it to under 20. It will be hard with Thanksgiving and Christmas though.

That's all I have :)

Drink the juice!

Today I have to drink the juice (or sugar water) to test for gestational diabetes. It's chilling in the fridge (and was been for 5 weeks) while I am chilling on the couch. Sorry it's been so long since my last post - I am a terrible blogger for two main reasons. 1) I look at a computer all day at work and I dread the thought of looking at one after work (I could blog at work.... Join the group of people in my office who do nothing...) and 2) I hate typing on my phone. I miss phones that didn't have whole front being a touch screen - it gave me a place to hold my phone. Now I drop the stupid thing every fifth word bc I can't really hold on to it. And my phone thinks it knows what I want to type but it is wrong 90% of the time.

So update on being pregnant...
1) Sophia kicks. Alot. And jumps on my bladder. She is staying ultralow which is great - no rib jabs! But it means Justin can't really feel her move and I make frequent potty trips. But I like to feel her kick :)

2) I have had an elevated heart rate for 3 weeks and no idea what is going on. All my tests have come back fine - blood pressure, anemia, thyroid. I go for an echo this afternoon (day full of appointments). It seems worse in the mornings. Quicker to jump and slower to come down. I can hear my heartbeat in my head so it just makes it worse. In the mornings when I get to work I can see the vein along my collar bone pulsing. I don't like any of it at all. Sophia seems unaffected by it which is good.

3) I have been able to keep my weight gain under 10 pounds so far. Which makes me very happy. I want to limit total gain to no more than 20 but closer to 15 if possible. Because of the heart rate stuff I have been much more conscious about making myself eat more veggies and fruits. V8 and salads are becoming a norm now. I am not a veggie person so it is hard for me.

That's all I got. We leave tomorrow for Myrtle Beach for a few days and I cannot wait! Relaxation and water, here we come!

Wednesday Walkout

Happy Hump Day! I quit riding MARTA so I had to find another time that I am not at my desk or relaxing after work. I figure why not type on my phone while I walk in a huge circle at the office? That is safe, right? Pregnant woman walking while not really looking where she is going... I played Candy Crush last time I walked at work so it can't be that different. We shall see.

Anyway, I will be 18 weeks tomorrow. It is crazy to think that in 2 weeks I will be half way through this pregnancy and be 20 weeks away from holding my baby. I am still too overwhelmed to buy a ton of stuff. There are just too many options! For everything! I am blessed to have 2 brothers who married generous wonderful women who are giving or letting us borrow furniture and clothes and other necessities. I could not imagine having to decide on that stuff too.

I still haven't really felt Baby move. I am getting anxious and trying to keep myself from worrying.

That is about all I have for now.

Almost 17 weeks

Well, I realized that I am no good at turning on the computer at night on a weekly basis. I am, however, good at playing on my phone on my commute to work (on a train not in the car). Blogger app, thankyou for your existence. 

I will be 17 weeks tomorrow. We found out last Friday that the doctor is 80% sure Baby is Sophia. We will confirm in a little over 3 weeks. So for now Baby is still Baby.

My symptoms have reduced greatly, thank goodness! Last week was brutal. Nausea came back full force and I had a constant headache. This week I have only had mild headaches in the morning (I relate them to knowing I have to wake up and go to work-which has gotten very stressful). But a little caffeine and 2 tylenol take care of the problem. I have "popped" and have a full fledged BabyBump (or SophieBump). I am completely embracing this bump and enjoy seeing it take shape week to week.  I am anxiously waiting to feel Baby kick. I have felt little fluttery things here and there that I like to think are Baby saying "Hello" but I want to feel full on, unmistakable movements.

We traded in the Honda Fit for a Honda CR-V over the weekend. When I kept some of our friends' little boy a few weeks back we realized that while we crammed a lot of stuff into that tiny car, someone so small as a baby and their car seat simply do not fit very well. No way the car seat would fit in the middle. It had to go behind the passenger seat with said passenger seat up as far as it would go. So we looked around, forced the dealership to abide by our demands and got what we wanted for $4 more a month than what we were paying on the Fit. I am pleased and love the new car!

That is really all that has gone on in our little world the last week or so.

"Hey, Mike. Do you know what day it is? Hump daaay." Love that commercial!

Decisions Decisions

I'm not sure if I'm going to blog.  I don't like facebook or other social media outlets, but I want people that I don't see everyday to be able to know what is going on with our 'lil growing family.  So I'll do a couple of posts and see if this is something I want to keep up before I begin publishing anything.

So a brief summary of how we got here (I will end up using I and we interchangeably a lot and I apologize).  Justin and I met in 2008, got engaged in 2010, got married in 2011, and finally, after a very long journey, we became pregnant in April 2013.

Baby is due January 9, 2014.  So happy (hopefully early) birthday to me! As of today (July 22) I am 15 weeks and 4 days.  We will hopefully find out if Baby is a Simon or  Sophia this Friday!  My parents are coming for a couple of days and going with us, as are Justin's parents.  Hopefully Baby will cooperate and we will know for sure what we will be calling him/her going forward.  My goal is to post a weekly update about Baby, so hopefully I will be able to keep this up.  Welcome to our journey!