Another doc appointment

We had another appointment this past Monday and in all everything is still going well. Vince was actually late to the appointment, but made it in time for the important part, hearing the baby's heartbeat.

I gained 8 pounds this month - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! That puts me at 28 lbs to date. Not good. Truthfully, I'm bumming pretty big time about it and feel ashamed. I know I shouldn't, but I'm really struggling with it. Oh, and the big 2-0-0 mark is looming and makes me want to cry to know I will definitely be over that terrifying number on the scale.

Blood pressure and urine tests are still fine. Baby's heartbeat was 156 and my fundal height is still right on target. I had my 1-hour gestational diabetes test (ugh, I forgot how awful drinking that stuff before the test was!) so the results from that should be back by early next week at the latest. If I pass then no more blood draws!

We spent a lot of time asking Dr. McCollum questions. We talked about me traveling safely over Christmas, selecting a pediatrician, breastfeeding classes, care classes for daddies-to-be, our work schedules, my diet and weight gain, heartburn, and she asked how Vince and I were doing in our relationship and how we were handling everything so far. Can I just say again how much I love her as a doctor?

She reviewed the images from our ultrasound last month, and was not happy with them - I think the images of the baby's heart were poor, so we have another u/s scheduled for next month. So, we get a bonus look at the baby! That will be our last monthly appointment. After that one, we will be going in every 2 weeks for checkups.

After the appt we had some dinner and then went to Babies R Us to pick up our crib, which had arrived. We also spent some time messing around with strollers and car seats so that we can register soon. Which is good, because this week a few awesome friends have stepped up with offers for baby showers. We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives who care for us and our little one!

Now that the crib is home, I guess it is time to commit to a choice for the baby's room and get to work on it. Vince has a 4-day weekend for the holiday so I am betting we see some progress on the bathroom and maybe even beyond.

My random musings from this morning...

So I was thinking a little bit about the dichotomy that I seem to be with respect to my attitudes, expectations and beliefs about childbirth. On one hand, I am pretty "granola," I'm 100% for breastfeeding, natural (unmedicated) childbirth, potentially deferring or delaying certain immunizations, massage, baby slings, considering cloth diapers, so on and so forth. But, I am also planning to give birth at a hospital with an OB, we elected to have the NT screening done and we are doing the GD tests and such, we love getting ultrasounds, yadda yadda. I feel like women seem to fall either on one extreme or the other, but obviously I know I am not alone in these seemingly conflicting choices. And I guess that is the beauty of where we live - I have lots of choices available to me while on this path.

But, I do think that all these choices are getting more and more overwhelming. I wish and wish I had some all-knowing mother hen to turn everything over to and say, "Please make all the perfect decisions for me and let me know what to do next." Wouldn't that be nice? I know the options and decisions we will have to consider and make are really only just beginning, and that in and of itself is terrifying. I can barely cope with choosing strollers, cribs and car seats, how on earth am I going to handle choosing a preschool or care provider down the road? Names? To circumcise or not? Who is our pediatrician? Aaaagh!

I know a lot of this anxiety stems from my Type A, yellow, plan-your-drive-and-drive-your-plan personality, and that most of it is really not that important and will work out for the best as it is meant to. But damn it all if it isn't the scariest thing I have ever faced. And of course a lot of this is exacerbated by the fact that just I realized that I am thisclose to the third trimester, our bathroom *still* isn't done, the basement hasn't even been approached, baby's room is untouched, no registry has been put together, the holidays are stealing time already, work and massage practice are crazy busy, the house and the laundry are begging for attention, and Vince is barely keeping his head above water with his work demands. I wonder how much more can possibly fit on our plates?

Alrighty, random musings/venting/freak out over. Time to stop griping and get a plan together, no?

24 week photos

Here I am so you can see me in my entirety (it's a nice break from the pastiness of my belly skin, no?)


24 weeks front and side:



And just for fun, some recent pics of our first babies, Izzy and Tank:

Is laughing allowed in yoga class?

The baby has been quiet the past few days, not really moving around as much. Well, he more than made up for it today during prenatal yoga class. We were doing the "legs up the wall" pose. Yeah, it is pretty much just that - laying with your legs up the wall. It is a restful pose that encourages getting extra fluid out of the legs (my puffy feet love/need this). All of a sudden, the babe went into a flurry of movement. He kicked me so hard that I was so surprised, it made me laugh! I did my best to keep quiet, but for some reason it totally cracked me up. And he did it a bunch of times. I eventually had to come out of the pose so that I could get it together. I imagine that soon those kind of kicks won't strike me as funny, but I'll enjoy the novelty of it all for right now.

A really sweet wake-up...

Instead of waking up this morning to the sound of my alarm clock, I was for the first time awoken by the feeling of the little one kicking away in there. : ) Tank was laying next to me with his paws pressed against my belly. I wonder if the baby felt that and that is what prompted the early morning antics?

More pics!!!

Now that I am getting the hang of this...

Belly pics - 23 weeks, front and side. Eeeeek, I know! Pretty please don't laugh at me.





And now some shots of the awesome presents the Babe has gotten so far:
These are the books and CD that Auntie Margaret sent:


And here are some gifts from lots of cool peeps - the blue elephant I bought while in Myrtle Beach, SC, the blanket that Great Grandma Astrid crocheted and sewed, the bib from KatieSunflower, the rattle from Cyndi and Niko that they bought in Croatia, the green blanket that Sarah, Rob and Ben sent (that Sarah's mom made), and the little bear pram that Auntie KD bought that may be what Babe comes home from the hospital in.:


And here is the crib we picked out and that Grandma and Grandpa Loney bought (Babi Italia Pinehurst):