40 Weeks

Well, the due date was Saturday (10/2) and Baby Bo is content to keep hanging out where he's been for the past 40 weeks. I ate a lot of spicy foods this weekend, cleaned and helped Joe out at work Sunday morning. We walked around Menards, Ikea, Costco, etc. all weekend and nada. Oh well...we're finding out he's stubborn like his mother.

As of last Thursday's appt with the midwife, here's the plan:

10/8 - Ultrasound and check up to make sure everything is a-ok.
10/11 or 10/12 - Another check up to see what's happening
10/14 or 10/15 - Start inducing...

Keep your fingers crossed that he decides to make an appearance before 10/8 or at least before 10/14!!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Shower #2

A HUGE thank you to Anna, Sandy and Nikki. You ladies outdid yourselves and I had a fabulous time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sandy's fruit creation

Me with the "other" Joe

Nikki made this!! I'm still trying to talk

her into opening her own cake shop

Sandy, Nikki, Me, Anna

Love you ladies!!! Thank you so much for the fabulous day!

Long overdue

After quite a few busy weeks at work, weekends traveling and being exhausted I realized that it's been far too long between posts. This will be a long one (you've been warned) to update on the craziness that was July and almost August (I can't believe summer is almost over).

Baby shower #1/New house BBQ/Turning 30 - July 10-July 12
Baby shower #1 was thrown in ET by Auntie Amy and Nana Sal and they did a truly fantastic job. It was great to see everyone and we received lots of fabulous gifts. (THANK YOU...and the thank you cards are finally in the mail...sorry!).

After the shower we cleaned up and headed over to Auntie Amy's and Uncle Luke's new house (they closed in May but this was the first time Joe and I saw it) for a BBQ with Luke's parents, siblings (and their fams) and mom and dad. Their house is adorable and there was more food (thanks Dad and Joe for taking over cooking for both parties) and it was a ton of fun!

We headed back to MN on Sunday and Monday marked my 30th birthday. It was pretty uneventful and really wasn't that big a deal. The highlight was Anna stopping over Monday night with a fabulous DQ ice cream cake!!

ET Wedding - July 23-25
Joe and I headed down to ET again to celebrate Chad and Cathi's wedding. It was a hot and humid day with the ceremony being outside. Thankfully, it managed to cool off enough for the ceremony and there was a beautiful breeze. Cathi looked lovely and it was wonderful to watch them get married.

Chad's family from MN was down as well and it was amazing to see all of his aunts, uncles, cousins again with their own families and they were an absolute hoot on the dance floor!!

Anniversary - August 11
Wednesday marked our 3 year anniversary and if it had not been for Kari's email to me Tuesday night, I (and Joe) would have completely forgotten. I blame the baby for my memory loss but I'm not sure what Joe's excuse was. Anyway, after work on Wednesday, we went out and had a nice little dinner to celebrate the fact we didn't forget and then ended up getting the exact same anniversary card from Amy/Luke and Mom and Dad...what are the chances of that?

Nana Sal/Papa Scott visit - August 13-15
Last weekend mom and dad came up so Joe and dad could figure out our heating situation. For the past three years, we've had great heat in the living room/bathroom but all three bedrooms freeze...like we finally broke down last year and bought a bad-ass space heater (2 to be exact) that we would turn on to heat up our bedroom. Well, with the baby's pending arrival, Joe and Dad figured they should probably try to fix the issue.

While the boys did that mom and I took off for the Just Between Friends sale in Eden Prairie. I realized about two weeks ago that I'm going to have a baby born in the fall and he has no pants, just short sleeve onesies so I thought I better do something about that.

Mom and I found a lot of great clothes, although the woman channeled Grandma Lu and wouldn't let me pay for anything and if I found an outfit, I'd hold it up for her to see and she would grab it and say "I don't know" and then put it in her bag. I finally stopped handing her clothes so I could buy my child something. I also kept telling her, she was going to have to deal with Joe when he saw all the clothes that were purchased...

By the time we got home, the boys had fixed the heating issue and all is good. We also hooked up the baby monitor that Nana Sal and Papa Scott bought which has a video monitor and it is just cool! THANK YOU again!!

So, in between our busy weekends Joe and I were still doing tons of laundry for Baby Bo, organizing his room, trying to find childcare for him, etc. This weekend will consist of packing up a bag for the hospital (just in case) because this Saturday (the 21st) will mark 6 weeks until the due date. On that note, I've also entered the world of every other week dr appts and Baby Bo decided to slow down in the growth dept and I'm now measuring just a smidge big instead of "quite a bit."

Here are some belly pictures (I look like I've stuffed a basketball under my shirt!) and what Baby Bo's room looks like...

28 weeks

31ish or 32 weeks

26 weeks

I can't believe that I am already at 26 weeks - the time has flown by! I had my glucose test yesterday (which I was really nervous about passing for some reason) but I did. I got to drink the "orange" flavored drink which for the first two sips tasted like an orange freeze pop. I thought this isn't so bad, I can drink this. Well, a few more sips later and I was dreading that I still had half of the thing to drink. By the time I got to the end, I wanted to puke. UGH! So glad that I passed and don't have to go through the 3 hour test.

I had the appt with the midwife while waiting the hour and apparently I am measuring "big." I measured just a smidge big last appt but that midwife (the regular one that I had been seeing) said it wasn't that much bigger and no worries. This midwife said I was measuring about 5 cm bigger (I think cm is right...) and that it isn't a big deal BUT if I still measure big next time, they will probably want to do another ultrasound. I made my next appt with the midwife that I normally see because I can't help but wonder if being seen by different people could be the reason as they may measure differently...I don't know. When I had the ultrasound in May, I was measuring right on so who knows. Just keep your fingers crossed that I measure "normal" (and I use that term loosely) for the next appt and I don't have to have another ultrasound (that would be 5!).

Anyway, here are some pictures of me from the weekend. It was Joe's birthday last Friday and we had a wedding in Green Bay on Saturday so we went up a day early and toured Lambeau Field and the Packer Hall of Fame...more on that in another post.

Gooey Baby

We had our second "baby" class last night and my fabulous husband posed this question/statement to the group (about 9 other couples and the instructor) after we finished watching the movie that shows babies being born and placed on the mom right after birth.

His question/statement was something to the effect of: "How do the rest of you women feel about having the baby placed on you before it's wiped off. I don't want to touch my baby while it's covered in THAT."

This of course got a loud, roaring laugh from the rest of the guys in the class and the instructor. I think the women were actually shocked that a "partner" asked such a question and I rolled my eyes silently thinking "you have no idea, he could have asked so much worse!"

The instructor said that is a normal question she hears in classes and that we can state in our birth plan we (or just Joe) don't want to touch a "gooey baby" as she put it. My question to all you mother's, did you touch your "gooey baby" or did you tell the drs. to clean baby off before giving him/her to you? I'm on the fence. Yes, touching a gooey baby kinda creeps me out but I think at that moment, I really won't care (and who knows, maybe Joe won't either).

So mom's, did you have the "gooey baby" placed on you or did you request the baby be cleaned? If baby was "gooey" how did your partner react? Would love to hear your experiences!!

24 weeks and sick

As of yesterday, we are at 24 weeks. Last weekend I got a little sore throat which turned into probably one of the worst colds that I've ever gotten which turned into pink eye. Thank goodness for urgent care on Saturday mornings and for whatever the drops it was they gave me. I'm feeling a little better but hoping that this goes away soon. It's already been a week of the cough, congestion, etc and I just want to feel better again.

Plus, we've started our baby classes on Wed nights and Joe ripped out the carpeting in the baby's room so we have lots going on and I just want to feel normal again. Or whatever "normal" at 24 weeks pregnant is.

Almost halfway

***SPOILER ALERT - If you don't want to know the sex of the baby skip this post :)***
On Saturday, I'll be officially half way through the pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it is going and thankfully, it's pretty uneventful.

Last Monday (5/3) we had a level 2 ultrasound and it was the first appointment Joe went too. Technically, this the fourth ultrasound we've had so I didn't expect to be too amazed at what we saw but between looking at the screen and Joe, it was pretty cool.

Some things that we learned during the ultrasound:

1. Baby Bo (short for Baby Falbo - that is how we refer to the baby thanks to Uncle Luke) really doesn't like to have his/her heartbeat listened too. The past two dr appts, the drs will get Baby Bo's heartbeat for literally a second, and then have to search for 2 or 3 minutes because Baby Bo hides. Well, same thing happned during the ultrasound except we could see Baby Bo so hiding wasn't the issue, but turning was. The poor tech tried about 6 times before she got Baby Bo to stay still long enough to get the heartbeat.

2. Baby Bo doesn't really like to listen. The ultrasound tech needed to turn Baby Bo's face toward her so she could get a good look at the lip/palate so she'd press on Baby Bo and sure enough, Baby Bo would turn the opposite way the tech needed. We probably did that about 3 times before Baby Bo cooperated.

3. This definitely is Joe's child purely based on Baby Bo's inability to follow directions or this is definitely my child based on Baby Bo's stubborness...you decide.

So the big question I'm sure most of you are dying to know...is Baby Bo a boy or a girl? If you don't want to know stop reading right now. If you would like to know, continue on...

Baby Bo is a perfect baby boy and I'm not saying perfect, that's what the Dr said after the ultrasound. He has 10 fingers/toes, all the organs are just fine and all his measurements are right on. When the docs came in to tell us what they saw, she told us "you have a pretty perfect baby in there." Now they may tell this to everyone but we felt pretty special.

I'm sure you're wondering my reaction to the "it's a boy" comment. Well, I was completely shocked when the tech told us. Joe and I looked at one another in shock and Joe even asked the tech "are you sure?" The tech laughed and showed us that yes, this is for sure a boy. As I tried to process the fact that I was not having a girl, I glanced at Joe, who I now think had been lying to me about wanting a girl, because his smile just kept getting bigger and bigger.

So, for the first time in my life, I will be out numbered in my own house. I'm not quite sure how to handle that so if anyone has any advice, please let me know. Frankly, I think this baby boy is my Dad's reward for dealing with a house full of women for how many years.

For now, that is all the news on the baby front...here are some pictures of me at 19 weeks 3 days.

And the next project is

I've had a really hard time blogging lately and it seems my posting has gone from once a week or so to once a month. So, the last post mentioned that we already had our next project in mind so what will that be? Turning the junk room into the spare bedroom so the spare bedroom can become the baby's room.

Yep, baby is set to make his/her appearance in early October. Not a whole lot needs to be done with the room, just painting and carpeting and the paint is already picked out.

Here are the questions I'm asked when I tell people the news:

How far along? 14 weeks

When are you due? October 2 (although Uncle Luke is hoping the baby is born on his b-day, Oct 20 - I'm hoping before)

How are you feeling? For the last 2-3 weeks I finally feel normal again. Weeks 5-10 were awful. Some puking, gaging, nausea all day, food turned me off. The only thing that I could eat were bananas, oranges, pudding cups, eggs, english muffins/toast, saltines. I feel normal again and can now stand to cook and eat.

Any cravings? Not really. Although once I get an idea to eat something in my head, I have to have that particular food but I don't crave anything on a regular basis.

Are you showing? (for those I've told recently over the phone) Yes

Are you excited? Duh

Those are most of the questions we're asked. If I've missed soemthing, let me know and I may/may not tell you based on the question.