Bump Found - Week 21

(Originally written 11/17/12)

Well Chris Brown is back this week.  What is up with that song?!?!    The lyrics are “Don’t wake me up,” so why do I keep waking up at 2:00am with that stupid song stuck in my head?  At least I had a few weeks reprieve.   Sigh. 

Speaking of sleep, I’m not getting much of it these days.  If it isn’t Mr. Brown waking me up, then its some other discomfort or crazy unsettling dream.   For real.  They’ve been pretty scary lately.  Maybe I should stop watching “Criminal Minds” and “I Almost Got Away with It” (SUCH GOOD SHOWS!) until after I give birth.

I think the baby likes country music.  Well, she either likes it or hates it.  I can’t be sure at this point, but every time I turn it on she starts kicking like crazy.  It might be because I have a tendency to sing along but we’ll pretend that’s not the reason she’s kicking.

I’m totally on a peppermint craze right now.  I went on a search for peppermint bark at Costco and they didn’t have it.  They have peppermint bark almost all year long but now that it’s the holiday season….There’s none to be found.   Dah!   A few days later I went to Bi-Mart for my mom and as I was walking through the candy isle, a little old lady stopped me and pointed out that Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark is the best.  That’s just creepy.  How did she know I’ve been on a week long hunt for bark?!?!   She looked like Mrs. Claus, no joke, so maybe……….Just maybe…….

This week is Thanksgiving.  We have a LOT to be thankful for this year!  Great family, friends, health, and especially for the little grasshopper growing rapidly inside my belly and making me itch like mad.  I wanted to make a shirt that had an arrow pointing to my belly that said “This is what I’m thankful for,” but I ran out of time. Oh well. L

Bump Found - Week 20! Half Way There!

Originally written  (11/10/12)

Baby is the size of a Banana!

The "mom cheeks" are starting. Ick. 

This pregnancy is flying by!  The first 14 weeks seemed like time was standing still but once I hit the second trimester milestone its been going by so quickly.   We are now half way done.  In 20 more weeks (or less) she’ll be here!

YEP I said SHE!!!!  We found out this week that we’re having a little girl.  To be honest, we are completely shocked!  Shocked!  Every fiber in my body has screamed that we were having a boy since day one.  And its not like it was wishful thinking either.  Before I even got pregnant, we said that IF we could choose we’d probably choose to have a girl first.  Why?  Because we can agree on more girl names than boy’s.  Haha.  So when the technician said “It’s a girl” both of our mouths dropped to the floor.   I think I asked the technician three different times if she was sure.  She said that the images were very clear and she was certain that we’re having a girl.  We’re both over the moon with joy but how could I have been so wrong?  I guess my motherly intuition needs some fine tuning before she gets here.   Or does it?  I have only bought two baby things for myself prior to becoming pregnant, and guess what?  They were both for a girl!

We didn’t want to have a big party to reveal the gender but rather just a few of our closest friends and family to share the news with.  I wish more of my family could have attended but that’s the trouble with living in different cities/states.  Regardless, it was a fun time and my husband came up with a very clever way to share the news.   That’s right.  I said my husband came up with it.  He’s so creative!   Shhh, don’t tell him I told.
 
*I did learn an important lesson though.  It doesn’t matter if you have a small get together or a large party.  The prep work and clean-up for either one takes the same amount of time.  Who knew!?!

It wouldn't be a Bachtel event if it wasn't pouring down rain, would it?!?!

Bump Found - Week 19

(Originally written 11/03/12)

Cravings?  Oh. My. Gosh.  Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream!  They’re the best!  On Sunday I had it for breakfast and then again for dinner and then again for breakfast on Monday.  And now just thinking about it, I may have figured out what’s for dinner tonight.  Yum!

Movement ?  The baby is moving like crazy!  To the point where I jump every once in a while because its such a strong sensation and it catches me off guard.  I wish it would happen constantly.  It brightens my day with every little poke.

  

Showing?  I would say so!  My belly button is getting shallow…..And wide….And gross.  I hate the way belly buttons look all stretched out through shirts.  Seriously?  My belly button is NOT the size of a tennis ball so why does it look that way through my shirts?  The other day I filled my belly button with toilet paper and covered it with tape but it was an epic fail, and not to mention kind of uncomfortable.   So that lasted about 5 minutes.  Why is there not such a product to solve this issue?  I’m going to invent a belly button blocker.   You heard it here first folks!  

Stretch marks?  So……I’ve been a huge slacker about getting lotion to rub on my belly until this week.  I figured it was mostly about genetics so I wasn’t in any rush to purchase a product that may or may not help and would just make me greasy.  Now I completely regret it.  It was a very somber day yesterday when I noticed my first stretch mark.  Its very little but I think it has a friend sprouting up right next to it.  Sigh……..

Sleep ?  The past two weeks, sleep is not my friend.  I’ve always been a back sleeper.  Now I’ve been told that I’m big enough, I should attempt to start sleeping on my side.  When I try to sleep on my left side I get indigestion.  When I sleep on my right side, my hip falls asleep.  Hmmmph. This could be a very long 4ish months.   

Looking forward to?  Our gender appointment!  Its on Friday, 11/9.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bump Found - Week 18

(Originally written 10/27/12)  Almost caught up!


We made huge strides on the nursery this week! I designed and cut out stencils for all 26 letters of the alphabet.  To my disappointment, due to the noise, and the dust, and the general un-safeness of using power tools while pregnant, I was banned from the actual cutting process.  I hate asking people for help.  I’m actually quite terrible at it.  If there were a metal for stubborn independentness, I would take gold for sure.  Alas, I realized I can’t do everything so I asked my husband if he would mind cutting out at least 5 letters per week until the project was complete.  After about two hours he comes inside with a huge stack of letters.  “All done!”  He says.  They look amazing!!!  He’s a rockstar! Now I just have to paint them.  Maybe I’ll continue my progress of asking for help and have a painting party?  Who’s in?

Cravings?  COFFEE!!!  I can’t get enough of it.  And I don’t mind if its decaf.  I don’t even want the caffeine.  I just want the coffee flavor and the warmness.  Mmmmm.  I also had a weird prego craving.  I wanted Macaroni & Cheese with a side of Dill Pickle.  It was delicious!  It gave me wicked indigestion though so I don’t know if there will be a sequel. 

Showing?  I finally had someone ask when my due date was!  Hooray!!!  Then a few days later I had my first run-in with a belly toucher.  It was okay, since I knew her.  Secretly, it made me giddy!  I really don’t mind if people touch my stomach.  At least not people I know.  I’m not sure how I’ll feel when a stranger touches me.  But for now, its exciting because that means I actually LOOK pregnant rather than people wondering if I’ve dipped into the cookie jar a few too many times....Which I have.  But that's not the point.

I’m still on the hunt for some cute and comfortable flats.  My hips hurt so badly after just one hour of shopping that I finally broke down and went to the orthopedic shoe store…..And bought……….Dansko’s.  It wasn’t without some protest.  First I tried the clog-style.  I looked in the mirror and saw a garden gnome staring back at me so I quickly put those back in the box where they belonged.  I DID find some cuter more tolerable Mary-Jane style ones so I tried those and I must admit, they were pretty dang comfy.  I get why people like Dansko’s.  I just don’t know if I can do it.  They ended up going home with me but I’m not sure if they’ll stay there.  Stay tuned…….

Someone Stole My Sock!

For real.  They stole my sock.  Not both socks.  Just one of them.  They pushed me over, pulled off my sock, and ran away.  I wasn't about to put up with a cold foot and stray sock in my drawer, so with my remaining sock I got up and started to chase them.

Okay, so that MAY have been a dream I had last night.  Isn't that crazy?!  It felt SO real!  Just as I was beginning to think the weird pregnancy dreams were getting tame, someone has to go and rip off my sock!  And it was one of those continuous dreams.  You know, the ones where the dream location changes but the main theme stays the same.  I probably had 10 different dreams last night but I was chasing my sock in all of them.  I never got it back either.  Sad.

Bump Found - Week 17

(Originally written 10/20/2012)

There’s no mistaking it.  I felt the baby this week!!!  I was driving to work when I felt the first movement.  I actually turned down the radio to focus on the movement as if that would help strengthen the sensation.  (It didn’t. lol) Everyone keeps telling me that it feels like popcorn popping or butterflies or bubbles, but it doesn’t feel anything like that.  It feels like someone is poking me like the Pillsbury Dough Boy or like fingers tapping on my belly from the inside.  It’s the best feeling in the world!!!!!!!  Every time it happens I find myself holding my breath to concentrate on the feeling.  Its reactionary and I don’t realize that I’m doing it until I notice the movement has stopped.  Once I resume breathing, the baby is on the move again.  I can’t wait for my husband to be able to feel it too! 

My belly has popped out even more this week.  I’ve been excited to get a big belly but now I’m starting to get scared that by 9 months I’m going to be huge!  I'm short so the baby has nowhere to go except for out.  For fun, I took a shadow picture.  Crazy!!!

We’ve started working on the nursery.  I’ve always had an idea in my head of what I want our nursery to look like so now we just have to start putting it in motion.  It will be the same whether it’s a boy or a girl with only minor color details changed…..(We find out the sex on 11/9!!!)  We got our chair last week and this week we found an amazing wagon on Craigslist.  I’ve been looking for a wagon to use in the nursery and I was astonished when I saw how much they charge for new ones.  Nothing fancy, just your regular Radio Flyer wagons are upwards of $150!  A wonderful friend drove all the way to Corvallis to pick it up for me and it only cost $15!  It’s the perfect amount of vintage flare and will look so cute when it’s refinished and complete! 

Bump Bound - Week 16

(Originally written 10/13/12)

Baby is the size of an AVOCADO!

I woke up this morning and my belly was bigger than it was when I went to sleep last night, which is quite a bit bigger than it was in this picture.  No exaggeration.  Its so surreal to go to bed one size and wake up the next morning a different size.  Sur-Real!  I may need to take another 16 week picture to show the difference in growth in just the past few days.

Highlight of the week:  There are actually two worth mentioning.  1) I went maternity clothes shopping.  What a difference they make!  I got a few pairs of leggings and a bunch of long shirts/sweaters that are sooooo comfortable.  I feel like I’m always wearing pj’s but without getting the “crazy lady” stairs that wearing pj’s in public warrants.  And Oh. My. Gosh!  Maternity jeans are my new favorite thing.  I’m in love!  Not only do they have a stretchy waist band that goes all the way up to my boobs (haha) but the jean material is also stretchy.  I imagine they are what those Pajama Jeans on the infomercial feels like.  You know you’ve seen those infomercials and have been tempted to order some.  I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to go back to wearing regular jeans with buttons when the time comes….I also got…..Wait for it…..Flats!  Gasp!  They’re okay for what they are I guess.  I despise flats.  Most of them are not cute and for such ugly shoes there are few comfortable options out there.  6.5's are too small and 7's are too big.  What gives???  Sorry to those of you (and there are a lot) who love flats.  I just don’t get it.  Maybe I still haven’t found the right pair to make me swoon.  I'm still on the hunt!

The other highlight came with a bit of a rocky start.  We got a chair and ottoman for the nursery!  Its amazing and oh so comfortable!  And we got it for a steal of a deal!  Let me start from the beginning……I found the perfect chair on Craigslist and spoke with the seller several times to arrange a time to go see it and pick it up.  It was perfect.  Perfect color for either a boy or a girl, it glided, reclined, and was from the Goodnight Room which is where I wanted my chair from but they are like $1,200 and I refuse to spend that on a chair.  We were supposed to meet at 7:00 when he texted me at 5:00 and said “can we push it to 7:30?”  Of course, I agreed.  At 5:30 I got another text from him saying he just sold it to a couple who offered $15 more than the asking price and picked it up right away.  “Really?”  He couldn’t wait another 1.5 hours for me to come get the chair, or at least tell me they offered more and ask if I would be willing to match their offer?   Jerk!  Usually, I would just let this rudeness go, but after the day I had I felt I needed to express my disgust with him so I texted him a nice little message….

“ A little lesson in  Craigslist etiquette – When you make an appointment with someone, its pretty rude to sell it out from underneath them.  Way to go on making a pregnant chick cry!” 

 I’m such a snot!  But c’mon people.  That’s just bad form!  To my surprise, I got a very apologetic text back from him.  It made me feel a little better.

To cheer me up, my husband said, “c’mon, lets go shopping and see if we can find any chairs that you like.”  At first I wasn’t sure if I was up for it, but who am I kidding?  Its shopping, and it was my husband's idea, so how could I resist.  We walked into Baby’s R Us and as always I headed right to the clearance department.  I love finding treasures in the clearance department and tonight was a gold mine!  To my surprise, the one and only chair I loved in the entire store had a twin sitting in the clearance department.  What was wrong with it you ask?  NOTHING!  A couple had bought it, decided they didn’t want it and had just returned it a few hours earlier.  It was even still wrapped in plastic.  Because it was a return, we got it for 20% off.  SCORE!!! There was also a cute ottoman in the clearance department for 80% off so I snagged that too.  They don’t match but I don't like matchy-matchy and I know I can make them work together.  We scored a brand new chair and ottoman for less money that I was going to buy a used chair on Craigslist for.  I'm so happy!  Everything happens for a reason, and this reason was clearance at Baby’s R Us!

I love my chair.  Its SO comfortable...and soft.....and cute!