Babies are so Tiny!

Posted on February 27, 2014 by playinghousewi

I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and couldn’t help but notice (and get wildly distracted by) the tiniest little baby girl. She was SO SMALL! Literally, if I had to guess, she was only a few days old. I mean, she would have made my 5 lb dog, Toby, look big.

Anyway, I know this isn’t news, but for some reason, it just felt so shocking. In just about 4 months, I will have my own tiny, headband-wearing little girly. It made me think… what the heck will I do with her? Do I really know how to take care of a baby? I mean, obviously I don’t. But will I figure it out?

This tiny baby, with a head the size of an apple, looked so darn fragile. I have all these hopes of cloth diapers and an all-natural upbringing… but will I even be able to keep this little person alive?

One thing is for sure, Google is going to be getting a good workout from all my questions.

Symptoms

Still feeling really good. By the end of each day, though, my back starts to really hurt. I twist and turn and reposition, yet still, I’m pretty darn uncomfortable. Thankfully, the worst of it doesn’t last more than an hour or so, which is manageable.

Otherwise, I’m still on my mission to keep all of our organization and baby-prep projects moving. Doing pretty well I guess, although things like work and normal-life responsibilities kind of put a damper on that.

As for weight-gain, I haven’t been on the scale lately. I’ve been feeling pretty darn bloated lately, which doesn’t inspire me to hop on. Maybe I’ll try to remember tomorrow morning (I absolutely do not get on the scale at night… that’s for people who want to get upset). It would be nice to know if I’m still on track. And despite my cravings, I do feel like we’ve been pretty good about eating healthily (still taking down two veggie shakes a day) and working out (although not as much as I should be… need to make sure I get that third and fourth workout in each week).

Speaking of which, I’ve gotta run… time to work out.

Glass, Plastic, or Stainless Steel?

Posted on February 26, 2014 by playinghousewi

Is glass best?

As I’m building my registry, I’ve found myself wondering whether or not I should use glass bottles over the plastic alternative… OR am I just inviting disaster? Cleaning up broken glass is the worst.

New standards require baby bottles to be BPA-free, but is that enough? (Plastic is still made with petroleum.)

And glass… we all know the troubles associated with glass: breakage, cracking, the weight, etc. The benefits include: no harmful chemicals, easy to sanitize, maintains warmth longer, can be heated.

And now, the other option is stainless steel. The benefits: shatterproof, recyclable, non-leaching material (aka: no seeping chemicals), durable… The cons: expensive (that’s all I was able to find… maybe that means I should go with stainless steel?)

HELP! I’m so confused…

What’s in a Name?

Posted on February 25, 2014 by playinghousewi

There is a chance I might regret opening this flood gate, but as we begin the name discussions, I’m wondering if any of you lovely folks have name ideas you’d like to share. Now, before you feel like this is an invitation to name our child or openly judge the name that we do chose, I must warn you that ultimately, we’re going to chose the name that we feel is best… and once we do, we won’t be looking for anymore suggestions 🙂

Anyway, I really love traditional, elegant names. Pretty much the names of either grandparents or babies… not the “traditional names” we grew up with, like Melissa, Jessica (my sister’s name), Rachel, etc. I also really want a name that is easily nicknamed. For instance, while I love the name Ava, this is more of what I consider to be a nickname. We have a very short, one-syllable last name, which in my book means we need to chose a first name that is strong and has multiple syllables. Another rule… our last name starts with L. I’m not the biggest fan of alliteration, so I’ve been avoiding L names. AND, my husband and I are M&M… I don’t really want to make that M&M&m… seems a bit too kitschy.

Let the suggestions begin… NOW!

Thanks for the help 🙂

Symptoms

It’s starting to get more difficult to bend down. I make grunting noises. I’m not even that big, but somehow, that’s what I’ve resorted to. It’s really most noticeable when I have to bend down to pick something up that I dropped or when I’m sitting on the floor and have to stand up. Oh well, right? Also, I still have a lot of discomfort in my back and neck. I’ve been going to the chiropractor regularly, but the pain always comes back. Thankfully, it’s usually by the end of the day that it gets bad, so at least I’m home.

The other thing that’s been bad has been my poor little feet. I walk around the house in my moccasin slippers that apparently have zero support. After about 20 minutes, my feet are killing… and 40 minutes after that, they’re swollen and super uncomfortable. I’m thinking it’s time to either a) get some arch supports, b) get slippers with more support or c) both.

Also, I’m a little cranky. Maybe it’s all the stuff I have to get done building up or the fact that we haven’t been getting a lot of sleep… either way, I’m definitely chipper today.

Let the Nesting Begin…

Posted on February 24, 2014 by playinghousewi

Something happened to me last week and I’m not exactly sure what it was. I don’t know if it was the power of hitting 5.5 months (aka: we only have 4.5 months to go) or what, but I have been totally non-stop planning, organizing, researching, cleaning, purging old crap, registering, etc. It’s all I can think about. I go to bed thinking about what I can do or clean next and wake up bright and early ready to work.

On Saturday, after a lovely brunch with my Milly (mother-in-law) and Pop (Mark’s grandpa), we went off to check out baby furniture and to touch and feel some of the stuff we had selected for our registry. The plan was Babies R’ Us, Buy Buy Baby, World Market, and Pottery Barn Kids. Unfortunately, when we got to the mall to go to PBK, the dang place was gone! I don’t know when, but the store had closed and now, the closest location is in Illinois over an hour away.

This discovery made me a little crabby (or maybe it was the fact that we had been out shopping for 4 hours already), but we decided that next weekend we would head to IL and check out PBK and potentially IKEA. And of course, still feeling like we needed to get things done, we went to the JC Penney Outlet to check out furniture and Target to get some storage drawers/cabinets for our lower-level “bonus room” and the nursery closet. A quick $250 later, we were ready to finally head home.

That evening, I built this little cube bookshelf for the nursery (I’ll post a picture tomorrow) and went through all the hand-me-downs from Mark’s sister and organized them into newborn, 0-3, and 3-6. A completely unnecessary task, as I will obviously be washing them… but oh well!

The next day I was up super early to start organizing the bonus room (except for a quick break to see my grandparents and buy MORE bins from Target, this is what I did from about 8 am – 11 pm). Currently, we have two desks in this room and it acts as a catch-all for the random crap we don’t know what to do with or haven’t had time to put away. Originally, the room was going to be an office/craft room, but we both always end up working upstairs, so we have decided to get rid of the big desk and bring our guest bedroom furniture from the soon-to-be nursery down to this room. But, in order to do such things, we need to get everything SUPER organized. That means, all my craft stuff, our files, Mark’s old crap from his mom’s house, etc all needs to have a specific place to go.

So here’s what I did…

BEFORE shot of the bonus room. Please note that there are piles of papers and crap everywhere and that all craft stuff is thrown into two drawers or somewhere in the desk.

AFTER: Yes, there are still some boxes in the corner… but it’s a HUGE improvement. And tonight, we’ll tackle the boxes (that is all crap that my husband brought over from his mother’s basement… I told him to make sure to find an actual place for the items instead of just throwing them somewhere. He found this room.)

AFTER: The closet is all organized in our new bins! There’s an “adhesives” drawer, an “every day paper” drawer, a scrap paper drawer, a ribbon drawer, and the list goes on. Organization like this makes my heart go pitter patter.

Next Steps:

Go through the remaining boxes in the bonus room.
Sell the big desk on craigslist.
Bring the furniture from the soon-to-be nursery down to the bonus room and get it all set up.
Figure out lighting in the nursery (I want to change the light fixture and look into getting overhead lights)
Paint the nursery (trim and all).
Go through the basement storage area and get everything organized.

Lots to do, but I’m hoping that this list will be done within the next month! Wish me luck 🙂

Symptoms

Besides my compulsive need to organize, I’ve been feeling really great. Energetic, motivated, excited, and happy. Yesterday, Mark and I bought the book, “Snuggle Puppy,” by Sandra Boynton. We’ve decided that every night, Marky will read a (or this) book to the baby to help her learn his voice and to help him feel connected to her. Last night was the first night and our sweet baby who was quiet as a mouse started kicking as soon as daddy started reading to her. I can’t wait to continue this ritual and see if she continues to react. It definitely was a special 2.5 minutes 🙂

22 Weeks… 5.5 Months! (February 21, 2014)

Posted on February 21, 2014 by playinghousewi

22 Weeks… 5.5 Months! (February 21, 2014). I can’t believe it’s already been 5.5 months! What a crazy little journey it’s been so far. My body is definitely changing and things are really starting to feel more real. I can’t believe this small nugget will be here in under 5 months!

Symptoms

The last couple of days, I’ve been forgetting to include “symptoms” in my posts, so I thought I’d throw it in this one. The biggest symptom I’ve been feeling is this little jumping bean! The difference between the movement from last week to this week has been crazy. Probably about 2-4 times per day, she really goes nuts and does some serious re-positioning. I’m talking full-on belly movement… I can feel her graze my entire stomach. And then sprinkled in there are LOTS of bladder kicks. Those are a little less than comfortable. She’s also been kicking what feels even lower… I refer to those as the vagina kicks. Thanks, lovey… I just adore those moments when I’m talking to a coworker and simultaneously trying to ignore the fact that you’re poking down to my lady parts from the inside. Not weird at all…

But really, I do just totally enjoy all the movement. It’s so crazy. My favorite pokes are right at my belly button. I don’t know why, but they feel so silly… almost a tickle feeling.

Also, yesterday was officially the first day I actually SAW my belly moving. I took a video; although, I’m sure it’s a little hard to see from there. A few disclaimers… 1) please ignore the ridiculous amount of hair on my shirt. The puppito seems to be shedding a bit of undercoat or something, which on occasion gets me a little hairy. 2) You can see my whole belly bounce right after I pick a hair off of my stomach.

SO FUN!

Other than that, it’s business as usual. I’m totally in the pregnancy groove. I have my energy, I’ve been productive and I’m starting to really get moving in the “nesting” / preparation phase of things. I’m ready to take on the nursery this weekend… clean out some stuff, do some reorganizing and measuring, and get some plans in place. Maybe head to Babies R’ Us and Pottery Barn Kids to check out some furniture… and who knows, maybe we’ll pick out paint colors. I know… so exciting!

Don’t Make Me Decide… The Nursery Debacle

Posted on February 20, 2014 by playinghousewi

To say that I’m struggling with nursery ideas would be a total understatement. I am SO lost. I keep thinking I’m ready to go in one direction and then something makes me change my mind.

I know that generally speaking, I like the neutral colors… grey, cream, beige… with accent colors… maybe blush… or turquoise… or lavender…

Blush accents…

More blush… I definitely don’t like this crib.

Grey, Cream, Blush & Gold… a thought!

Elegant and neutral.

More elegance.

But then I have my moments where I think I want to be a little brighter with my choices and then I get totally lost. Ugh.

Bright colors…

Not sure about the pink, but I like the rest I think.

Similar colors.

Cute driftwood mobile.

Can someone just design the damn room for me? I really suck at making decisions. The same thing happened with our wedding… I was totally paralyzed in making any decisions, so we decided to move our wedding date up by 5 months and plan the whole thing in 3 months. I promise, that will help you make decisions 🙂

Anyway, I know I need to decide, but nothing has really wowed me.

I sketched this last night to try and organize where things will go and what kind of furniture we’ll need…

Don’t make fun of me… this is just one way I plan.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing polka dots on one accent wall. But really, I just don’t know.

Subtle polkas on one wall with white furniture…

Way too bright for my taste, but smaller polkas.

Way too bright for my comfort, but smaller polkas.

Polka accents in gold/blush.

Polka bedding. Also really like these colors… some of the time.

Here are some cute mobiles I found, too!

This first picture is by a lady who had a REALLY cute little lamb mobile on her Etsy page, but now it appears to be gone. <TEAR>

Bun Buns.

If I go the colorful route..

Thoughts?

How to Clothe That Cute Little Baby Tush

Posted on February 19, 2014 by playinghousewi

The cutest unborn baby tush ever!

If it wasn’t obvious by my ultrasound pictures, I think there is something so dang adorable about a miniature baby tush (aka: butt). Seeing this cute little butt on the ultrasound was a good reminder for me of all the trouble/work/poop/laundry/stank that little tush will be causing me. It also reminded me that I wanted to look into… dahn dahn dahhhhnnnnn… cloth diapering.

Now, I know this is a subject that provokes a lot of love/hate emotions, but being the “need to know all my options” kinda gal that I am, I’ve started to do some digging on the subject.

So, why do people choose cloth diapers over disposable?

It takes 20 trees to provide diapers two years of disposable diapers for a child… and then all 20 of those trees – now filled with poop and nastiness – go into landfills.
To save some dollars! By the time a child is out of disposable diapers, covering that cute little tush can cost parents $1,600 to $2,500. Including the cost to wash disposable diapers, this compares to about $425-700 for cloth diapers… that’s a savings of $1,200 to $2,100 for three years, or $400 to $700 per year.
It is said that cloth diapers reduce diaper rash! Also, because a cloth diaper can absorb less liquid, it is more obvious when you need to change said diaper and thus, your sweet babe isn’t wallowing in his or her own filth for hours on end.
The cloth diaper fanatics say that kiddies in cloth diapers are potty trained in much less time than “those other kids” in the disposables.
I don’t really know why, but these same diaper fanatics claim that they have SIGNIFICANTLY less diaper blow outs with cloth. (Oofta… am I ready for diaper blow outs? Not to be a total girl, but I don’t like poop. Especially the all over kind.)

I’m sure there are other reasons why parents choose cloth, but that’s the extent of my list for now.

I think the reasons for disposable are pretty obvious, but here’s my quick, unresearched list of reasons:

There is limited handling of nasty soiled diaper.
Just wrap it up and toss…
Did I mention the amount of laundry you have to do with cloth diapers?
It seems easier and just kind of like the thing to do.

Now, from what I’ve heard, the laundry thing isn’t the biggest deal… you do the wash at least every other day and you get used to it. By adding a little sprayer thing to your toilet (imagine a vegetable sprayer), you can easily get the poop and nastiness from the diaper to the toilet, and in terms of the stink, the diaper pails work just as well if not better than those for disposable diapers.

So where am I at with my research and my decision? I have no idea. I’d love to hear from people who have tried cloth diapers because I’m still very intrigued. I’m all for saving money and protecting the bum… but at the same time, I don’t really love laundry. BUT, maybe it would be a good reason to get a high-efficiency washer/dryer. We could use the money saved on disposable diapers to upgrade. Hmmm… that sounds like a good idea!

I think my next step is to talk to some people who have used cloth and maybe do a little more research on the actual diaper options. I’ve heard that once you decide to go cloth, there are about 5,000 other decisions to be made. Brand, Style, etc. Based on my initial research, though, I want to look into bumGenius, Kissaluvs and gDiapers.

Wish me luck and, if you’ve used them, let me know what you think!

The Travel Gods Are on Our Side

Posted on February 18, 2014 by playinghousewi

Thursday, the day before our trip, was donned the worst travel day of the winter with over 6,200 flight cancellations and 3,700 flight delays. To say we were feeling a bit worried about our Friday morning flight would have been an understatement.

In full, “Mark & Melissa Fashion,” we showed up at the airport about 45 minutes before our flight. Thanks to my husband’s service in the US Navy, we’re able to use the military line, which was essential this morning. The security line for our concourse was totally unreal. The wait had to be at least an hour, if not much longer than that. Even in our quick line, we still waited 10 or 15 minutes, which is unheard of.

Anyway, somehow we got through security with enough time to grab a bagel (a total essential travel-day treat), use the bathroom and jump in line at our gate. When we got to our gate, we discovered that Southwest does not assign seat numbers. I guess neither of us has ever flown with them, because it was news to us. And, as two of the last people boarding the flight, we didn’t have much hope of actually being able to sit together… BUT sure enough, we got on the plane and found two seats next to each other. Another relief.

So enough about our transportation… once we were there, it was wonderful! We were both SO tired (after only 2 hours of sleep the night before), but by the time we got to the hotel around noon, we were equally hungry. So, we mustered up some strength, and went out to enjoy the beautiful 37 degree and sunny day. We didn’t have to walk far to find a place that tempted us, so in we went to some weird Asian market buffet. Everything looked wonderful, although, I’m not going to lie… it wasn’t all that great!

My Asian Market Buffet picks!

Mark’s selections.

After lunch, we walked across the street to a giant Macy’s mall. On our way, we caught a whiff of the most amazing aroma… Waffles & Dinges (pronounced “dings,” although the husband and I refer to it as “Dingy’s”). We decided that after our little mall adventure, we’d grab a delicious Dingy on our way out.

And oh did we…

The excitement is building as we wait in line at the outside Dingy hut. The smell is amazing!

So many delicious options…

Ms. Dingy preparing our made-to-order waffle deliciousness.

Focused and ready to get back to our room and mow.

The final products… mine was fresh strawberries, bananas, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate. Just a small, low-cal treat.

It’s DINGY TIME!

Post-dingy, it was nap time. We were totally zonked. Then, it was up around 5 or so to get ready for dinner. We were even able to walk to dinner because the weather was so manageable!

The restaurant we selected, Osteria al Doge, was so perfectly romantic and adorable. A friend who used to live in the City made the recommendation and we were so happy we went with it. The place was perfectly candle-lit, authentic and delicious. They even came around and brought all the ladies roses.

Our romantic little corner booth!

After sharing some berries for dessert, we glanced at our clock to see that somehow we had let time get away from us and our show was starting in 9 minutes. We quickly paid the bill and started running to the show. Of course, in the excitement and chaos, I directed us to the wrong theater, which caused a slight delay. But again, we somehow made it JUST in time to use the bathroom and get to our seats right as the first number of NEWSIES began.

The theater, the Nederlander Theater, was totally great. It was really small and quaint, making it hard to believe there was a bad seat in the house. And the songs and dancing… oh they were perfect! The only trouble was that it wasn’t appropriate to sing along. Instead, my poor husband had to deal with me singing the songs the entire rest of the evening.

Yes, I downloaded the Newsies app.

Enjoying the romantic NYC atmosphere on our walk to dinner.

As if we hadn’t eaten enough, we stopped for a post-show hot dog treat. Our hot dog vendor was hilarious. He noticed that my rose stem had broken and said, “oh no… not today” and wrapped the stem in tin foil to bring it back to life. Another great NY moment. And ooo was that hot dog delish.

The next day, we went to visit with one of my mom’s oldest friend’s, her daughter and her lovely bf. It was a great brunch and such a wonderful visit.

Mark, Jillian, Lorett & I!

Then it was onto Long Island to visit with Mark’s sister, brother-in-law and two nieces. By the time we got there, I was zonked, so while Mark took one of the nieces sledding, I took a nap.

My nap was funny. The youngest niece is pretty much my biggest fan… ever. She might love me more than Mark does. So, she decided she was going to lay down and “nap” with me. This turned into her waking me up every 20 minutes for about an hour by saying, “Melissa… are you done yet??” I can’t complain though… I did get a solid hour in after that.

My wake-up call!

That evening, we went to the Globetrotters. I had never been and didn’t really know what to expect. It was pretty silly; although, from what the boys said, it wasn’t what it used to be.

Trotting around…

The next day we went to their amazing gym/country club, where Mark and the oldest niece rock climbed, and then they all swam and played bball. We were probably there for a good 4 or 5 hours. The place was really nice… I even got to take a yoga class that afternoon. All-in-all, a very nice day!

Climbing session.

We finished the evening with some Mediterranean food, the olympics and manicures. It was a great time!

The next morning, we headed to the airport nervously. Milwaukee was expecting 8-10 inches of snow that day and we were feeling a bit nervous about our travel luck. BUT, somehow, we made it! Anyone travelling to Wisconsin as a connecting flight, was unable to board the plane, as their trip had been cancelled. But as long as your final destination was Milwaukee, you were good to go. So we got on the plane and ventured back.

Just as we were about to land, they informed us that Milwaukee’s airport had been closed, so we would be cruising for a little bit until they were able to clear the runways and reopen. As scary as that was, we made it and landed safely… only to return to the blissful snow-filled state of Wisconsin.

A Month’s Worth of Questions Answered

Posted on February 13, 2014 by playinghousewi

Homemade caramel coated, chocolate covered pretzels… a little bribe.. errr… gift for my doc and nurse!

While our 20-week doctor’s appointment was wildly overshadowed by our anatomy scan, which we had right before the appointment, I must say it was quite informative. I’ve been sending myself text messages in the middle of the day… or night… when I think of questions to help keep track of everything over the month’s time.

This month, I happened to watch, “The Business of Being Born,” which created about 10 questions right there. Anyway, this is why I bake for my doctor. I am totally aware of the fact that I’m an obnoxious patient. Not-to-mention the fact that I have it in my mind that if my doctor likes me, she’ll be more willing to go out of her way to make it to my delivery. I’ll let you know how that pans out.

So, here are my questions and the corresponding answers:

Does it bother the baby when I poke my belly (my husband was on my ass about this one)? Nope! There is so much cushioning, etc, that you wouldn’t be able to poke hard enough to hurt the baby because of the pain it would cause you. IE: Poke away!
Can I drink kombucha? My doc didn’t know too much about kombucha but we pulled up the product page online and she said her only concern would be the caffeine quantity in Black Tea, and urged me not to drink too much.
Is it okay to take a probiotic supplement? Yep!
What are your thoughts on a doula? Essentially, she said they can be very helpful for the mothers and tend to work really well with the nurses in our delivery hospital. Doula away!
Can you write me a note providing permission to fly (we are headed to NY tomorrow and Mexico next month)? While she didn’t think this was necessary, she had no problem writing our note.
Can I drink fresh fruit juices from the resort juice bar in Mexico? All of the food you have at the resort should be just fine – assuming you’re following basic pregnancy do’s and don’ts. This makes me beyond happy because for some reason (maybe because I’m a hungry pregnant lady), a juice bar and pizza restaurant were requirements for the resort we selected.
What percentage of women are given pitocin? Oy. This answer was sad. My doctor literally laughed and said, “A Lot!” This obviously isn’t surprising, but the conversation felt like a clip out of the Business of Being Born.
Do you have to take pitocin? This was a little wishy washy, but the gist was that if you do not want it, they will be patient with you. And, ideally, you want to stay out of the hospital for as long as possible. It definitely reinforced the fact that if you don’t know your options, it’s very easy to fall into the pitocin/epidural/c-section pattern.
Do you allow mothers to deliver standing up or on all fours? Our doctor definitely seemed flexible, although, it seemed as though she’s only delivered a couple of babies with the momma in an alternative birthing position (versus the typical on your back posish).
Do you guys use vacuum/forceps for delivery? Yes, when necessary. They’ve found that it can be done to prevent the need for a c-section.
Does the momma have control over the lighting and number of people in the delivery room? Absolutely! My doc recommended writing up a birth plan to give to the nurses when you come in to labor/deliver. While the nurses and docs have their standard procedures, they are very willing to work with you to create the best environment and experience for each mother. Mark and I decided we better have some sort of homemade goody to bring to the nurses so they don’t get turned off by my ridiculous birth plan 🙂
At what point are interventions optional versus requirements? When the mother or baby are at risk, that’s where the docs step in.
Percentage of c-sections? About 20%… I think that’s what she said?
How can you stay in the Jacuzzi tub? Can you deliver in there? You can pretty much stay in there until it’s time to get the baby out… but you can’t deliver in the tub. One question my mom brought up was that she had heard you couldn’t be in the tub once your water breaks. I’ll have to ask that next month.
Do you get an IV right away? Yes! There doesn’t have to be anything connected to it, but just in case, they want to make sure they’re prepared for any situation that may arise.
Can you request that your nurses don’t ask you if you want pain meds? Yes! Again, this is something to put in the birth plan. My thought is that if I want the meds, I’ll ask. But if not, I don’t want to be tempted.

Wow… okay, that’s all of them! Thankfully, she seemed excited about her treat and didn’t seem to notice the ridiculous number of questions I asked. She even said that she didn’t feel as if she had earned the delicious pretzels. She did in my book!

Symptoms

A couple new things lately… one, in certain positions – mostly when I’m lounging on the couch or laying down in bed – I can feel my heart/blood pumping. At one point, I even took my pulse because it felt like my heart was pounding… but it was completely normal. My doc said it’s just the increased volume of blood that is likely causing my heart to work a little harder in certain positions. Regardless, it’s a little annoying.

The other symptom is the kinda-but-not-really runny nose. I pretty much always feel like I need to blow my nose, but there is rarely anything to blow out. Not a big deal, just something I’ve noticed.

Our Anatomy Scan AKA the Best Medical Procedure EVER!

Posted on February 12, 2014 by playinghousewi

So I have to be honest, my day yesterday did not start off as I had hoped. In fact, it was pretty shitty. Leading into the day, I was feeling super anxious and nervous. I had started to worry that I hadn’t felt the baby for a day or two and was just totally freaking myself out. Any excitement I had about learning the sex and seeing our baby had been completely converted into stress about the health and well being of our sweet baby.

In the morning, I was running late for work and feeling really chaotic. I had finally gotten into the car to leave and made it down the block when I realized that I had forgotten to grab my little pretzel gift bags for my nurse and doc. Obviously, I had to turn around and grab them. THEN, as I was backing out of the driveway for the second time, I was a bit too far over to the right and felt my car roll onto a bit of snow (aka: off the driveway). I tried to adjust, but being that our driveway is a steep 45 degree angle and was a bit of a slippery mess, I just rolled backwards and got nice and wedged in the snow. Needless to say, I was frustrated and crabby and had to call to have my car pushed out of the snow bank. Simultaneously, I was sharing my stress and anxiety with my husband by giving him shit for not shoveling the driveway from the weekend’s 1″ snowfall.

The husband was also feeling stress and anxiety about our upcoming appointment, so what was really a nothing situation turned into a fight… over the phone… before 10 am. We ended our conversation with a, “this is not a big deal… no worries… see you this afternoon,” but I think we were both still feeling crappy about it. Anyway, then it was finally appointment time and Mark was 15 minutes late to pick me up. When he arrived, things were kinda normal and kinda tense and by about halfway through our drive to the hospital, we were back in our stupid argument over nothing. It followed us into the hospital, where we sat in the waiting room in a whisper fight. And literally it was so stupid… but regardless, I freaked out. I didn’t want us to share this super exciting moment when it didn’t feel like we were on a team. So I told Mark I wanted to reschedule, got up and started balling my eyes out as I walked to the bathroom. When I got out of the bathroom, Mark was there and just held me as I gasped for breath, sobbing. We both acknowledged that the anxiety of the day was what was making us both crazy and that we loved each other and were just being crazy.

We held hands and walked back over to the waiting room together, as a team. That was when the best experience ever began.

As soon as I laid down on the ultrasound table, Mark was by my side, holding my hand again. The excitement was totally overwhelming and then all at once, there was our baby. Our ultrasound tech, Tracey, started at the head and then worked her way up and down and all around the baby. Some of the highlights…

The Heart! This actually made me quite nervous, because we had no idea what they were looking for or what “normal” would look like… and Tracey wasn’t giving any hints. But, regardless, it was pretty damn amazing. We saw all four chambers of the heart and the valves and everything. There is some sort of something that allows them to track the blood flow, so we saw red and blue patters that tracked blood flowing towards the ultrasound wand and blood flowing away… all moving within the heart and out to the rest of the body.
That little butt. Oh my goodness does she have such a cute, miniature baby butt. That was almost too much for me to handle.
Her tiny legs, crossed like the teeny lady that she is. What a princess, this baby is. Throughout the majority of the exam, she sat with her sweet little legs crossed at the ankles. Seeing the little legs and little feet. Oy. So much cuteness on one small monitor.
Her baby mitts. She was constantly moving her little hands around, but they stayed very close to her face the whole time. I’m thinking I need to invest in the onesies with the extra fabric to fold over the baby’s hands so she doesn’t scratch her face.
Have I mentioned how cute her little tush was?
Baby kicks… it was SO crazy to feel the baby kicking and be able to see what the movements I’ve been feeling actually look like. It makes everything WAY more imaginable and real and simply amazing.

Towards the end of the exam, Tracey told us she usually likes to see the baby “spine up” (aka with the baby’s spine facing upwards and their face facing towards the momma’s back), but since baby wouldn’t cooperate, she would move on to gender. I rolled on my side and she shimmied the ultrasound wand to try and get a good look at the baby’s lady parts, but our little nugget wouldn’t cooperate. Tracey told us she was going to give the pictures to the doctor to examine and would hopefully be back to to try to determine gender once the doc was done. I instantly got nervous and desperately asked, “but… you’re coming back right? You won’t make me leave without knowing, will you?” She said she’d do what she could and left us.

THANKFULLY, within minutes, she was back in with us. She told us that the doctor was reviewing the scans and that we’d try again. This time, the baby had flipped so she was able to get her spine photo AND, we were able to see what kind of parts the babe was sporting. Tracey explained that one thing they are looking for is the reflection in the genital area… the labia creates three little lines and the testicles create… well, honestly, I can’t remember! But, after she told us that she said, “As you can see, there are three lines here… you’re having a girl!”

It’s a GIRL!!!

I instantly squeezed my husband’s hand so hard and was literally speechless. I couldn’t do anything but smile and fight back my tears. And honestly, at that moment, I was so excited, but also realized that it wouldn’t have mattered either way. It was just so amazing to know which flavor baby we were having!

The better news came next… Dr… something came in to let us know that everything looked perfect! Baby is 13 oz and the scan looks great! PHEW!!!

We walked out of the appointment with a ton of photos totally glowing! We had our 20-week appointment next, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow. But, all in all, it was just amazing. I have literally never had a more amazing and miraculous experience EVER. We got to see our sweet little baby GIRL and she’s beautiful and perfect and tiny and lovely.

Here are the pics…

It’s crazy what can happen in 11 weeks! Check out the growth since our last ultrasound!

Here’s a shot of the little one’s lady parts from underneath. Notice the two legs, tush and three little labia reflection lines.

Mini hand by the sweet face profile.

Another profile shot!

3D Ultrasound Face Pic! This one is my second fave. Smooshy pout face.

My favorite little face pic. She’s just so precious with her little hand up by her face. I can’t wait to kiss that little face.

This one is a big blur… but there’s that little hand again.

The sweet baby showing her tush just like her puppy brother did later that afternoon. They’re going to be best friends!

Symptoms

I’m feeling great and excited and overwhelmed with love and happiness. Also, I’m starting to get the feeling like these next 20 weeks are going to FLY! Time to start planning the nursery 🙂