Happy Anniversary!!

It's our 3rd wedding anniversary this week. BUT, hubby is away on a business trip for the whole week. So booger to that!

I spent a very romantic evening painting the furniture - a very challenging task as I had to navigate me and my pregnant bump across various pieces of tools, furniture, wood and other crap that hubby has crammed into the garage in order to get to the pieces I needed to paint. Felt like Catherine Zeta-Jones in that infamous "Entrapment" scene that hubby is so entralled with - Haha...if only he could have seen my performance!

He gave me a good present though....last year was dirt (a whole heaping truckfull that got dumped onto our front yard) and this year was grout and cement (for the backsplash). But I always love it when a project is done! And the roses help too....Doesn't it look pretty against the new background?!

Happy anniversary, hunny bunny! (Our last one "alone"!!)

Week 29

What's happening underneath that bump?

The baby's head is in proportion to the rest of the body. Fat continues to accumulate under the skin. The brain can control primitive breathing and the body can also regulate temperature. The eyes can move around the sockets and the baby is becoming much more coordinated. The baby is becoming sensitive to light, sound, taste and smell.

The baby is over 15" from crown to foot and is nearing 3 lbs in weight. While you'll still feel a great deal of movement in the womb, your baby is no longer able to perform the acrobatics he/she did earlier in the pregnancy as space runs out in the womb.

We had a minor scare last weekend when baby decided to "hibernate" for over 24 hours. He/she went from bouncing off the walls to almost zero movement overnight (even when I downed over 2 glasses of water at one go, 1/2 a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie, orange juice, etc etc). On Friday, I wasn't too TOO worried, since I could still pick up a strong heartbeat easily with my doppler. But on Saturday, it took a really long time to even get any sort of rate that could be passed off as a steady tempo, and even then, it sounded like it was resonating off the uterus walls (even though that little stinker kicked at the rod).

So we went to the hospital just to get monitored, and I suppose that I was just a worry wart, as they said that he/she was perfectly fine. I wonder how much this is going to cost us in hospital bills? Movements have still to return to their normal "activeness", but baby is definitely more "vocal" on this Monday morning than it was last Friday. Great --- I have a hibernating squirrel in me - where it's either leaping and bounding all over the place, or it's in a deep sleep where nothing can rouse it.

On another note, while we were there, we met a couple who was just waiting around patiently to get admitted. I couldn't tell (until I asked), but she was actually in labor!! She's officially my hero. I think if it was yours truly, it'd be a totally different environment for admitting staff at the hospital!! I think she even walked from the parking garage!

On a project front, we were really quite productive over the weekend. I'm so proud of my hubby, and I had so much fun.

We worked on the backsplash for the kitchen - nothing too fancy...just subway tiles across one wall (was going to have it on two walls, but decided against it at the last minute. We'll end up painting the other wall with the stripes....I think the contrast will be interesting, and it'd be something different, at the very least).It ended up being cheaper than anticipated, as the tiles were really quite inexpensive. Which is always good. And it was definitely good practice for when we finally decide to tackle the downstairs bathroom.

The changing table needed one last coat of paint, then some polycrylic to "toughen" it up, and it should be done. I can't wait to finally bring it up so I can organize it. The wood for the armoire is also being prepped and painted, and hubby will assemble it in the nursery itself as there's no way that I'd be able to help him move it up the stairs once it's put together.

It's all starting to come together. I'm so excited!! The master bedroom will continue to look like crap, as more of my junk is moved over there, but at least one out of the two rooms upstairs will look nice! And we all know that baby will be head of the household, so it's only fitting that it'll be his/her room that will take priority!

Week 27

What's happening underneath that bump?

During this week, the brain continues its rapid growth, and the lungs continue to grow. The eyelids, which have been shut up until now, slowly begin to open, and the retinas begin to form. Coordination is improving and the baby is able to cry now although nobody can hear!

He or she will grow over 1/2 inch this week and will be about 1 1/3 feet long (from crown of head to the toes or 9.6 inches from crown to rump), and weighs about 2 lbs. The skin has become less wrinkled as fat fills out, and the skin has turned opaque.

I cannot believe that I’m about to be in my third trimester!!! Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock!!

We had our hospital tour last Wednesday, and man, I’m scared! We basically went through the same process we will when I’m actually in labor, and when we made it to the birthing room, my heart started palpitating and I got really scared…It’s actually going to HAPPEN!!! Although I must say that the room itself looked quite comfortable…..big screen TV, comfortable armchair for the daddy-to-be…really, if I didn’t have to be in labor, I’d say it’d be a pleasant stay.

It didn’t help that when we were leaving that floor, we past by a freshly delivered scene….. sheets all bagged up, beds stripped…..it felt like it was a murder scene…EEK!!!!

But of course, then we went up to the “permanent” rooms and we saw a one day old baby girl who was gorgeous! And we all oogled at the nursery window……I could barely contain my excitement then----I can’t wait to finally meet my little one.

Speaking of him/her, we now can feel AND see the form that is causing all those kicks and bumps at my belly…..Where before, it was just a generic thumping, now, we can actually feel and see his/her foot or hand that’s pushing against my stomach and it’s the weirdest, creepiest, most fascinating thing in the world!

Oh, and my belly button is popping out more and more. And my linea negra (line on the belly) is darkening --- Consistent with all of my body’s other idiosyncrasies, either my belly button is skewed to the right, or my linea negra is skewed to the left, because I definitely do not have a straight line down.

Sew A Little....

I have a new hobby. Well...it's not really new, it's more now, I actually have the motivation (or pressure, I suppose) to actually finish up a project.

My mom bought me a sewing machine, oh....I don't know, eons ago? But I've never really sat down to really learn how to use it because it just seems so tedious.
So, fast forward to the present - we all know that I'm expecting (duh). And you may or may not know, but baby stuff are very expensive --- and the bedding is no exception. Sure, you can just run to your Target or Walmart and pick up any ol' bedding set. But I have absolutely no desire to purchase one of those typical cutesy, chockful of teddy bears and ducks and what-nots sets that seems to be the norm in the more affordable spectrum. I didn't want anything too childish, in other words. "But it's a BABY!" my husband would exclaim....Yeah, but I'm the one who's going to be looking at it. The kid could care less as long as someone changes his/her diaper when he/she wets the bed in the middle of the night.

The sets that I would even remotely consider would run from $300 onwards. Yup, $300 minimum for a 4 piece set (sheet, bumper, blanket and dust ruffle). It's equivalent to highway robbery, in my opinion (but don't mind me, I have a screwed up sense of "value" as it is, anyway ----where I think paying more than $8 for a meal is crazy expensive, but I think that paying $2500 for a bag is totally fine. Yes, I've done that). I won't even pay that much for our bedding, much less something that's more than 3 times smaller, and would be subjected to spit-up, drool, pee and poop.

So, what to do?? Roll up my sleeves and start making my own! I've absolutely no idea if I"d be able to manage it, what the outcome would look like, or if I'd end up just buying the darn thing from a retailer. But, I've always wanted to try and there's really no harm trying right? After all, I'm aspiring to be a Super Mommy --- one that can bake up the most delicious snacks on the block, the one who can make their kids' Halloween costumes (Which, by the way, I saw lots of those type at the fabric store when I went to pick up the fabric) --- someone like Bree Van Der Kamp on Desperate Housewives, basically.

I found the most beautiful fabric that could swing either way (boy or girl), I found 40% off coupons (LOVE coupons!), I have a sewing machine, and I have a plan. There are worse ways to start off a project, I think. So, it's off I go!

Some Retail Therapy...

How adorable are these little shoes??

The brand is from New Zealand, and it's called Bobux. I've spent a pretty penny on this site recently, but since it's really been a while since I've bought anything frivolous, I'll let it slide - and it's not that shoes are necessarily in that category----I DO need to buy shoes for the kid...so why not these?


And I suppose that if I really do have a little boy, I can always release all that pent-up shopping frustration on cool kicks (since anything frilly, pink, or flowery would definitely be out of the question then!)