3rd Trimester Happenings

I still wake up every morning and say to Patrick "I can't believe our baby is almost here". I'm ridiculously pregnant at this point, and very much aware that there is a baby inside of me anxious to join the world. Still I find it unbelievable that in a sort time our baby will be here and she will be all ours.


I've started to become a bit nervous about the day that she will arrive. Even though I know that most first time pregnancies go long, I still feel like she will arrive at 38 weeks. The other day December, 19th popped into my mind so that is the day that I have picked in the baby arrival date guessing game that my mom has started. So far the dates range from December 19th - Jan. 1st. Watch her get comfy cozy after all of her attempts to escape and decide that she will stay in past 40 weeks. She may want to arrive on her daddy's birthday Jan. 4th. 


Last week my doc told me that he will be on vacation Dec. 24th - Jan. 3rd. I predicted in the long process that it took us to get pregnant that we would end up with a December baby, and I also figured that our doc would be on vacation. I know that it is not the end of the world, but I really like my doc and there is only one other at the practice who I am really not a fan of. I'm sure at the time, I will be grateful for whoever delivers our baby, but I still would like the peace of mind to know that my doc could possibly be the one to deliver her. 


I have been battling a cold for the past 2 weeks, which is extra annoying. Colds are an inconvenience as it is, but being 33 weeks pregnant with a cold is really awful. It has been the worst cold ever and it will just not go away. I have been sneezing so hard that I'm sure the baby is traumatized. She has resorted to kicking me in the ribs which is an extra bonus right now. I have basically been home bound other than a few small trips out with Patrick to run some baby errands. I get a little stir crazy being home so much, but simple things like getting in and out of the car and grocery shopping have become so uncomfortable. 


Last week when my doc told me about his vacation, he also told me that I am anemic, I have sciatica and the pressure that the baby is putting on my pelvis is only going to get worse. Oh and that my cold may just last forever and that throwing up in your sleep happens sometimes at this stage due to my gigantic uterus. I just keep telling myself that the end is near and this is all so very worth it. 


On an up note, we had a maternity photo shoot booked for the beginning of October. I was hoping that we would have a beautiful fall day, and that I would not yet be enormously pregnant. Well, our photo shoot ended up getting rained out multiple times and we ended up having our photos at the end of October. Each day that passed, my baby bump and basically every other part of my body was growing by the minuet. Needless to say, I was enormously pregnant for the photo shoot. We still had a fantastic day. We love our photographer Gina Christine, and we had so much fun styling the photo shoot. I was able to get Patrick excited about it by incorporating his hot rod. We don't have the disk yet, but we did get a sneak peek.

It's a big deal! Our baby's crib!

We bought our baby girl's CRIB!

This is a very big deal. I have put a whole lot of thought, time and energy into making a final decision on what crib to purchase. Many people might not think that it's that big of a deal. To me it was. 

I was very unimpressed with the cribs that we saw at your standard Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby. I was even surprisingly unimpressed with the selection available at Pottery Barn Kids and The Land of Nod. Through searching sights like Project Nursery and On the go baby, I came to the realization that the types of cribs that caught my eye were Designer Cribs. Designer Cribs = Ridiculously Expensive Cribs. 

I found a store called From Cribs to College, that carried all designer cribs at what they marketed to be discounted prices. I don't know about you, but I don't think of a $1,000+ crib as being a discounted price. 

On our 1st trip to From Cribs to College, I found a crib and dresser that really caught my eye for the bargain price of $3,000 for just the crib and dresser. 

Pretty amazing right! I'm not one to make an impulse buy, especially while having pregnancy brain, so we left the store and I gave myself time to think about it. Patrick wasn't wild about the crib or the price. If we got the crib, we had to have the dresser also. Separating the two just didn't seem right. After more research and another trip to see the crib, I decided against it and moved on to another designer. 

Meet my next idea. This is the Young America brand. On my 2nd trip to From Cribs to College, we met. There were 2 different styles of cribs that I debated over, and I had to have the dresser and most importantly the armoire. This line comes in multiple designs, I love the Ma Maria and the Isabella, and over 20 colors and finishes. Patrick was not with me on trip 2, so a 3rd trip was in order. So on our 3rd trip, I'm 30 weeks pregnant at this point, we spent 2hrs. walking the store and finally making a decision. It was a done deal. The sales associate started to write up our order and guess what, my dresser, which was Ma Maria, and my Crib which was Isabella, did not come in the same shade of white! Are you kidding me! The armoire came in both shades. This is just wrong. Then she tried to convince us to pick a neutral color like lime green or yellow. Really! My feet were swollen, my face was burning up and my constant indigestion was about to come up on the showroom floor. Trip #3, a disaster, and our final trip. At this point, I'm so over crib shopping. Also, these crib's take 9-12 weeks to come in and guess what, this baby is coming in less than 9 weeks. 

Now I'm ready to buy any crib I'm so frustrated. We went back to babies r us and buy buy baby and I was so close to going with a floor model, plain, boring, white crib that was on sale for $250. I couldn't do it, and I'll explain why.

Baby #1 is a girl! As much as she acts like Patrick while in my belly, I like to think that she will have some of my personality. I'm emotional, maybe sometimes overly, but certain things mean a lot to me. I come from a small family, and I do not have many family heirlooms or traditions. I still drive past my childhood home on a regular basis and tell myself if I ever see a for sale sign that it's mine. As challenging as this pregnancy has been at times, I still want to have 4 babies. I want to build family traditions and have family heirlooms to pass down through the generations. I want to have a timeless, elegant and well made crib that all of our babies will be in and maybe even someday our grandchildren will sleep in also. 

So the other day I just happened to come across a posting on the On The Go Baby Blog http://www.ontobaby.com/2011/10/feminine-sophisticated-pink-nursery/ (thank you Jessica). It was a beautiful nursery that had a similar look and feel as ours. Her Wrought Iron Crib really caught my eye. It's timeless, elegant and made of Wrought Iron which will hold up much better than wood. I didn't have to worry about baby teething bite marks, or Ellie-Mae's nails destroying the crib. 

Now I was on a mission to find the perfect wrought iron crib. I found a designer, Bratt Decor, that I loved and contacted them about stores in the area where I could find their cribs. As soon as Patrick got home from work, we were out the door and on our way to Beautiful Beginnings, a super fancy baby boutique in Oakbrook to see the crib. It was freezing cold and pouring rain, not ideal for Oakbrook. We were able to find a great parking spot, but had to walk 3 flights of stairs to get to the store unless we wanted to get soaked walking to the elevator. I was so excited that 3 flights of stairs at 31 weeks pregnant in the pouring, freezing rain seemed perfectly fine. I was wrong! 1st flight, not to bad, just a little winded, 2nd flight, "wait I can't catch my breath", 3rd flight " why can't I lift my own legs anymore". Patrick and I both found this all very entertaining, but seriously it was ridiculous that I could no longer walk 3 flight of stairs. We made it to the top and the store was in our sight. I tried my best to get myself together so I wasn't a total mess when we walked in the door. 

Patrick opened the door and there it was, OUR CRIB! It was love at first sight. The easiest decision that we had ever made. Who cares what the price tag says. 

3rd Trimester

Oh my ... trimester 3!!!! I'm so excited! I feel like I am in the home stretch. Trimester 3 has not greeted me very nicely, but either did trimester 1 or 2. I'm so very sleepy. I felt this way in the first trimester. The kind of tired that you never thought was possible. I have been sleeping in and taking naps daily. I feel like a bear in hibernation. I want so much to have tons of energy and be able to get everything in order for the baby's arrival. The baby's room is still under construction, so the things that I can do like decorate and organize are currently on hold. I'm stressed out about that because I just want to be as prepared as possible, but I'm trying my best to be patient with my hard working husband. The old floor has been removed and the new hardwood floors have been put in. Construction on the bay window seat has begun and is almost complete. There have been many, many trips to home depot and Lowe's. We have picked out a paint color and purchased the paint and painting supplies. I think it is very sweet to see Patrick building his baby girl a beautiful nursery. He is not enjoying all of the extra work very much, but I know when it is complete he will be so proud of the special room he built his baby girl.


I'm working on my wife and motherly skills. I am lucky to have a husband who grocery shops and cooks, but I'm sure that he would also enjoy having his wife do those things for him. Lately I have been meal planning, grocery shopping, preparing dinner and even doing some baking. Yesterday I actually looked up recipes and went grocery shopping with a list. While Patrick worked on the baby's room, I made Cesar salad, spinach and ricotta ravioli and banana bread. Everything turned out really good and I was so excited and exhausted. I love that my house still smells like fresh baking banana bread.


After dinner we watched Lincoln Lawyer which is a fantastic movie.


Today is officially my last day of work. A couple of weeks ago my Dr. told me that it was time to call it quits, but my plan was to make it to October 1st and I had some clients pre-booked for their final massages before I went on leave. I did follow Dr.'s orders and close up any of my available time that was still open. I have been taking it pretty easy since my body is not allowing me much energy to do too much. 


As my due date gets a bit closer, I am getting slightly nervous that I am going to go into labor and I am going to be home alone. I really don't want to drive myself to the hospital while in labor in the middle of a snow storm. Hopefully that will not be the case and this little girl will give us some notice. She's a little trickster though so I'm sure it will be an eventful day.

Playing with her big foot!

Our Anniversary!

As our anniversary was approaching, we started talking about ideas of how we would celebrate. We are both craving a vacation, but flying is not an option for us right now with the early contractions. We thought about taking a little road trip for a weekend getaway, but we just got back from a road trip down south that my body is still sore from. So we decided to stay in town, enjoy a weekend home together and go out to dinner at Ditka's. 

We had a lovely weekend at home together and a fantastic date night out on Saturday. On Saturday morning Patrick made us a fantastic breakfast, and I returned the favor on Sunday morning. Patrick spoiled me big time with an AMAZING anniversary gift, and I surprised him with a gift that he was really excited about also. I've already been told not to expect gifts like this every year.

 We are so blessed to have such a wonderful marriage full of so much love. I'm so excited for everyday that we have together and for all of the blessings that our future holds.

XOXO

A little bit of pregnancy humor: Soccer balls & Eggplants

As I was reading about my 25th week of pregnancy, I found out that my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball, and my baby is now the size of an eggplant. Along with the two melons that I have been carrying around most of my life, I've got a whole lot of business going on up front.


I have a feeling that this pregnancy is going to be going from cute to freakish real fast.


As I was walking up the stairs over the weekend, my husband was standing at the top and said "why are you so out of breath"? Gee I don't know maybe it's the soccer ball uterus, eggplant baby and melons that I'm carrying around all day!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Exciting things are happening around here. I have entered into my 7th month, and now that it is starting to feel like fall outside, I am realizing that our baby will be arriving soon. I think that she is loving this fall weather as much as I am. She has been super active doing flip flops and bouncing off of my bladder. Patrick was finally able to feel her movement and she put on a show for him. She is moving around so much that my entire belly moves with her. I have been surprised at how intense some of her movements are now that she is growing fast. I can't imagine what this is going to feel like over the next couple of months. It really catches me off guard sometime. 


Patrick has started construction in the baby's nursery and I am so excited over the progress so far. He took the carpet out, which was only put in 5 years ago when the house was built, but we don't care for carpet. It took many talks to convince him that we did not need carpet in her room and that in my opinion hardwood floors would be better. I think that he agreed all along, but was just not looking forward to all of the work. Last week when we removed all of the furniture and carpet from the baby's room, Ellie-Mae was devastated. She loves to lounge in the guest bed during the day, and stand on the Orchid table and look out the window. Now as Patrick has been installing the hardwood floors she stands in the room and gives him her sad face. I don't know what she thinks is going on in there, but I know that she is going to be very happy with the finished product, especially the bay window seat. 

The construction has been very loud, but I know that it is going to be beautiful. I really can't complain since I managed to take a nap throughout Patricks labor intensive work. He is sore from head to toe, but I know in the end he is going to be so proud to see what he build his baby girl. 


Yesterday I discovered the new Pumpkin Cream Frappuccino from Starbucks and I've got to tell you it is out of this world. This is a coffee free version, but they have a coffee version for you coffee lovers. I'm still waiting for Jamba Juice to bring back their pumpkin smoothie that I fell in love with last year. They tell me that it comes back out this coming week. I love to eat pumpkin, I love to smell pumpkin and I love the look of pumpkins. No this is not a pregnancy thing, it's a fall in the midwest kinda thing.

We started our day today with a trip to the farmers market. Well I actually started my day with some french toast topped with bananas. I love the Frankfort farmers market. It is such a cute town, and the people are so nice and friendly. We always bring Ellie with us, and she gets so much attention. There are always lots of other dogs, and today Ellie was behaving a little badly. Lucky for her I still bought her some of her favorite treats from the dog treat man. He makes human grade, homemade dog treats that Ellie is crazy about. We always get her the pumpkin, she loves pumpkin too and it is so good for dogs. Today she got a bag of banana treats also. She loves fresh bananas so I have a feeling that these are going to be a big hit. I am a sucker for homemade jams and today they had pumpkin butter. I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's pumpkin butter and I'm interested to see how the two compare. 

Every once and a while we like to have what we call sandwich Sundays. Today after the farmers market, it seemed like a good day for sandwich Sunday and the bears game. We picked up all of our favorite sandwich must haves, and headed home for sandwiches and the bears. As I as washing the lettuce, the 9/11 tribute at the opening of the game started. I have been a bit on a 9/11 overload this week with all of the coverage, but I've got to say this one really got me. I was standing over the sink hysterical while washing lettuce. Patrick came in from a walk with Ellie and he was very concerned. Then I pointed to the TV and he got it. It was moving and very beautiful. I love football season, and today was a great game. I have to admit, I fell asleep around half time, but I was really happy when I woke up in the 4th quarter. 


Patrick is back to work in the baby's room, and I took some time to read my breastfeeding book "So That's What There For" which is terrifying and entertaining all at the same time. 

I have 10 more work days and then I am done. I have to say that I am pretty excited about this. My baby bump is in full force and I'm ready to take a break. Other than the growth of my bump, I would have to say that this past 4 weeks has been my best yet. I still deal with everyday symptoms, but things that I have excepted like heartburn that will just never go away. My doc had me up my minerals and I'm convinced that it has helped with the leg cramps. Don't get me wrong, I still ache all over, but thanks to calcium, magnesium, potassium, my chiropractor and massage therapist I'm not feeling so bad. Trimester 3 is right around the corner so I'm going to keep on moving around as much as I can now before it becomes impossible. 

Ellie-Mae's 1st slumber party

Ellie-Mae & Heidi

Ellie-Mae loves company. Especially company from my mom, dad, Patrick's dad and my dads doberman Heidi. Ellie gets overly excited when one or all of her favorite people come over for a visit. My dad went off sailing, and Heidi came to stay with us for 5 days. Ellie & Heidi have had many play dates, but this was their 1st slumber party. I'm not sure who has been enjoying this more, Ellie, Heidi or Patrick. These girls are absolutely adorable together, and they absolutely love Patrick. They follow his every move, and shower him with affection. 


Patrick and Heidi bonded over 3 years ago when we were visiting my dad in South Carolina. Patrick had never been around a doberman, and he had always had male dogs. A few months later, we were in the Florida Keys visiting my dad and Patrick got the swine flu. Our 1st night there, he got really sick and had a really high fever. Heidi, who was a huge part of my dads recovery from cancer and his greatest nurse during his chemo treatments, jumped into bed with Patrick and snuggled up next to him to heal him. Patrick became fascinated with Heidi, and she was a big part of Patrick agreeing that we could get a dog, a female dog and a doberman. We searched for a long time for our puppy and new the moment that we met Ellie that she was ours. She is not a doberman however, she is a coonhound. 

Getting cozy

Now, back to the slumber party. When we brought Heidi home on Friday, Ellie was a little confused that Heidi was here and my dad was not. Ellie is still hyper at times, and slowly growing out of her puppy antics. She is definitely a spoiled, only child and has the behavior at times to prove it. Ellie was very territorial over her mom, dad and entire house which she thinks that she owns every inch of. She was thrilled to have Heidi here, but she was not about to let her out of her sight. Heidi is the sweetest dog you will every meet. She just wants to be by your side and give love and be loved. She will play with Ellie, but she lets Ellie know when she has had enough. 

Playing

When it was time for bed, Ellie got very confused. Ellie-Mae always follows us into the bedroom, washes up for bed with us (she brushes her teeth before bed and her face in the sink) and then hops right into bed between us. 

Brushing her teeth

Washing her face

When Heidi also followed us into the bedroom Ellie was not enthused. Heidi snuggled up on the floor in Ellie's bed that she never sleeps in and Ellie kept her eye on Heidi's every move. Ellie kept jumping from the bed to the floor and basically kept me up all night. At this point in my pregnancy I'm basically up all night having to pee, but I didn't need two dogs following me to the bathroom every 30 minuets. Patrick of course slept peacefully. 

After a long night for us three/four(baby) girls, Ellie had Patrick up at 6am for their morning walk. Patrick took the girls on a nice long walk, and thankfully I went right to sleep. When they came back in they were so sleepy that they all went to nap in the living room with Patrick. 

Playing with Patrick

They spent the rest of the day napping, playing nice and being absolutely adorable. Ellie loves to go for walks around the neighborhood and get tons of attention. Anyone who doesn't give her attention, she barks at and terrifies. These two were like conjoined twins for their 5 days together. Each day they were snuggling more and more, and we started to have a feeling that there was going to be some serious depression on Wednesday morning when my dad came to pick up Heidi. 

Getting some afternoon sun

Snuggling

Wednesday morning came and both girls were thrilled to see my dad walk in the door. Ellie of course again, way overly excited. He stayed for a few hours and when Ellie realized that he was leaving and Heidi was going with him, the devastation began. Ellie has a way of looking at you that can just break your heart. She gave me that look and it brought tears to my eyes. She snuggled up to me for a little bit, and then when to the front window and stared out the window waiting to see if Heidi would be returning. My dad called later that night to tell us how depressed Heidi was. These girls are going to have to get a bunch of play dates in before my dad and Heidi are off to California for the winter. Oh and now Patrick wants to get a 2nd dog. I'm thinking that having this baby first might be a better idea.