Order your "Puppy Slings" here...

Pacey loves to be rocked... so Christian thought we should make our own puppy sling like they sell for babies. She is currently being carried around our house in her new sling while Christian drinks his coffee and watches the snow falling through the windows. And she actually appears to be falling asleep. (Let's keep this our little secret, okay?!).

Mommy went shopping the other day for some gender specific outfits for Baby T. The return policy has no time limit, so I got a few things for Baby Girl T. and a few things for Baby Boy T. Christian had his first Baby dream on Friday night... and it was a... GIRL. He woke up and said, "I know I've been saying all along that it's a boy, but I think it could be a girl now". Then he was asking baby to respond if her name was ______ or to respond if his name was______. No definitive response though.

I'm starting to get a bit more tired now than I was during the previous weeks. Actually, more than anything I'm just feeling a little uncomfortable. Not terribly, but getting in and out of chairs and bed has become increasingly difficult. I'm noticing the first signs of swelling in my lower legs. My rings are a bit tighter too. I take them on and off every day though so I'm not worried one day I'm gonna wake up and not be able to take them off. But on Thanksgiving, I lowered my socks because they were getting itchy and my legs were indented from the top of the socks. And unfortunately, that's been the case every day since. Other than those things and my increasingly wide structure, I'm great!

Thanksgiving was great, the food was excellent. We were at Marla and Mark's house for dinner after going over to Mom and Dad Tolentino's to have breakfast together. We made them my favorite... cinnamon raisin french toast, eggs and sausage. Yummy. The pork and turkey as well as everything served for dinner by Marla was particularly excellent this year; we also celebrated Andrew's birthday. We did our annual gift list exchange to prepare for Christmas too.

In a few hours we will begin the process of getting estimates for our upstairs- carpet, hardwood or both? We'll see... but we know we want to welcome Baby with a fresh new living space. And Daddy would be very happy with new hardwood floors too. We haven't gotten our Christmas tree yet, but hope to begin decorating for Christmas this week!

"Oh my goodness!"

On Tuesday we had our 28 week appointment. Baby's heart rate was in the 140's- normal. I gained 4.5 lbs in 4 weeks, much better than the previous month when I gained 9. Christian asked Dr. Heimburger if we could have our moms join us in the room to see the ultrasound; he said that would be fine. We were very excited to ask them, and they both said yes. So, on December 18th, they'll be able to see their grandchild for the first time! No peeking, though. We all have to look away when they look down by the legs!

We've been looking all week for fabric for Baby's bedding. What a chore! Unfortunately, nothing really caught our eye... we'd think we found something and then on second thought we didn't like it anymore. It's really hard to plan something neutral that would seem to be just right for a boy or a girl. In fact, it was really easy to plan for a boys room, but as soon as we imagined a girl in there, it just didn't seem feminine enough. So after hours and hours of searching on line and at quilt shops and fabric shops from Sycamore to Schaumburg with the help of my mom, I think we decided to wait to see if Baby is a boy or a girl, and then take another look at baby bedding. So, no sewing project for me- I'm disappointed, but at the same time, I hate to put all that work into something that isn't exactly what we want.

Christian had a great experience the other night; we fell asleep and he found me to be asleep on my back a few hours later. He woke me up and asked that I roll onto my side (not supposed to sleep on my back) and slipped his hand under the side of my belly when I rolled over. I fell right back asleep but I kept hearing him say "Oh my goodness!! J-do you feel that?! Oh my gosh!! J- are you feeling this?!" (This went on and on; he said I would sort of respond every now and then but he knew I was sound asleep). Apparently, Baby was really moving "crazy style" as we like to refer to it. He said it was such an awesome experience, especially since it was really time for just him and Baby, since I was asleep for the whole thing. He couldn't get over how Baby was poking at Christian's hand for about 15 minutes straight. Last night, we were cracking up because when I lay on my side at night, these movements are just unbelievable- it felt like a mini earthquake in my belly; it kind of tickled too.

My dad and father-in-law saw me today and both were a bit suprised at my size! While at my parents house my dad said, "What the heck happened?! Did you swallow something really big, or what?!" and then at my father-in-laws, he said "My back hurts just looking at you, you're so big". And I still have plenty of time to grow...

A Baby Story

Time is starting to tick and the pressures of being a parent are becoming more and more of a reality. There's so much to think about and of course we just hope we can be as good of parents as ours were to us. We started to work out our child care plans. We've got a ways to go, but we feel very fortunate to have the involvement of our parents. Christian and I both had strong involvement with our grandparents growing up; they helped to raise us, and the bond that experience created for each of us is quite meaningful.

I found a beautiful crib bedding set yesterday- it was on sale! Only $520 for the bumper pad, crib sheet, bed skirt and blanket. HAAA! That reassured me; I'll be making my own. $520???? Not necessary. Especially considering the short time it will be used and that my king bed which I'm guessing is 5-6 times bigger doesn't cost near that much. But it did give me some ideas... I think we're going to pick the material on Thursday. Yeah!

I finished The Lucky One yesterday; it was a good story. I have started The Kite Runner- recommended by Ashley. It was between that and My Sisters Keeper. After reading the back cover, it seemed like The Kite Runner was the better of the two for someone who needs no help in the crying department. I've been pretty emotional this week- probably the most emotional I've been since the very early stages. Like my mom said, I have more time on my hands now and that leaves more time for thinking, and thinking too much tends to get the best of me. The best is when I was home alone on Friday watching The Baby Story on TLC. This woman is in labor- her wacky tobacky husband is wearing a search light on his forehead. He actually had it on, and blinking while she is SCREAMING in labor, trying to push this baby out. I mean, SCREAMING, and GRUNTING and MOANING. I'm sitting on the couch, crying because I'm imagining what this moment is going to be like. At this same time, I'm saying out loud, "Oh, I'd kill him. No he is not wearing that light on his head". All the while laughing out loud because it really is very funny that he has the nerve to wear this blinking light on national television while his wife is in labor. If I had video footage of what I looked like on the couch, someone might admit me to a psychiatric unit for unstable behavior. I recorded it for Christian to see, and was happy to see it had somewhat of an affect on him as well. I'm telling you, you'd think she was delivering a small farm animal. He said, "no... you won't be making those noises, will you?". I'm not excluding ANY possibilities.

As for Baby's developments... it now has eyelashes, opens and closes it's eyes, can hear us both, has a defined sleep and wake cycle, has taste buds, and will probably start to get the hiccups in response to mommy's food choices. So I guess that means I need to take it easy on the spicy foods. Baby definitely knows daddy's touch now. It seems like as soon as Christian puts his hand on my belly, Baby kicks him back. We played this game yesterday- Baby's feet are on my right side and if we pushed in on my belly right by the feet, we got an immediate response with a kick back. It's unreal. I knew we were bonding with this baby, but I never imagined we could be this in love with someone we've not been able to lay our eyes on yet. We could not be any happier. Period.

14 inches

We finally decided on our bottles! We've chosen Dr. Browns BPA free plastic, not glass, bottles. After reading the reviews from moms as well as consumer reports, we came to our conclusion. Baby's kicks are getting stronger every week. The newest routine is kicking mommy in the bladder. I can't believe we are down to double digits... just 97 days to go! Sometimes that still seems so far off while other times I think, "are we ready for this?!" I think once Baby's room starts to come together it will seem like more of a reality. We're so excited, but nervous at the same time. Sometimes I lay in bed wondering where I'll be when my water breaks or what labor is going to be like. That's also where I was when I decided since none of the baby bedding we've seen is really jumping out at us that I should make it myself. We were going to go to Tammy Tadds quilt shop in Sycamore today to pick out fabric, but they're closed on Sunday. She has the cutest fabrics there- perfect for a baby's room. I can't wait to get started... with some help from my mom, of course.

I started to read my new book; so far so good. I've been on the Baby's R Us website a lot since I finished my test. I think I'll be able to take a break from that now too and get back to reading. We just renewed our gym memberships. I'd like to get in the pool, but... would it be offensive to see a pregnant girl in a two piece bathing suit? I won't fit in my Olympic suit anymore, but I have a nice Nike racer back top and bottom that I could throw shorts over. I think that's what I'm gonna have to do- I can't see buying a maternity bathing suit to use a few times, not to mention I don't know where I'd find one this time of year. I'll find out soon enough. It might work to my benefit- maybe I'll clear out the pool and have it all to myself. (Really, there's never that many people in there anyway).

Baby is 14 inches now and weighs two pounds. Baby will start to gain about a half pound per week now. It's eyelids are beginning to open, so baby can see now. Although, I guess there's not much to see in there... The guesses are flying in as to it's sex. Due to the shape of my belly I get a lot of "girl" guesses, but others guess "boy" because I'm carrying pretty low. The string and pencil say boy-boy-girl as does the ring on a necklace say boy-boy-girl... but the Chinese calendar says it's a girl. We picked out a few items of clothing; they are all very neutral. Really just a few layettes and pj's as well as some caps and socks to get us through the first few months.

SO EXCITING!! I can't wait to set my eyes on this baby for the first time. I can't imagine what it will feel like when that moment finally arrives!

Happy Tears

Have I mentioned how much I love being pregnant?! I fell asleep on the couch last night around 8:30 and woke up to go to bed at 11:30. I watched TV till about 1:00am with my arm wrapped around my belly just enjoying every movement this baby makes... at one point, I thought Christian was poking his finger into the side of my stomach. It hurt; I said, "What are you doing?". When I looked down, he was asleep with his hand on my stomach. He hadn't done anything at all. The baby was poking me in the side of my belly! When I pressed back with my finger in the same spot, I felt what must have been a tiny little foot pressing back at me! Happy tears just rolled down my face. It was amazing!

The Lucky One

I've been studying a lot for my exam next week and have had just about enough of the brain and spinal cord, diseases, drugs, and diagnoses. I took the day off yesterday to study and felt really accomplished. At night we caught a few minutes of "What Not to Wear" and I decided to call for a haircut appointment. Renee didn't have any openings so I told them to call me if she had a cancellation. Christian was with me when I called.

Today, Christian went out to run some errands while I studied some more (although I was feeling very overwhelmed and tired of it all). I got a call from the salon that Renee had a 12:00 cancellation. I told her I would be there at noon. I jumped in the shower and then sent Christian a text that I got in for a 12:00 haircut. He texted back, "Nice work. Get outta house for a bit. See u later poopie head. Luv u."

When I got to the salon and told the receptionist "I'm here for a 12:oo haircut with Renee", she responded... "Uhhh, Renee really didn't have a cancellation. I'm sorry." I looked at her like she was nuts and wasted my time by having me come in, but before I could say anything, she added, "Your husband called in and told me to tell you that, but really he has booked you for a manicure and pedicure. So come on in back and we'll get you started."

So, that's how I spent my afternoon. It was so relaxing. And now I'm back to studying (and blogging). Thank you Christian!

Here's a picture of my latest craving... taffy apples! This one's from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. It's huge! I couldn't finish it, but almost. What a great weekend... taffy apples and pedicures. Almost makes me forget about that exam!

Baby's good. It gave us a little scare earlier in the week. But I went in to see the doctor and everything is ok. I've been doing well ever since. I am having some braxton hicks contractions, but nothing unusual. I will schedule my blood glucose screening for gestational diabetes some time next week, probably not until after November 12th. I'll have some other usual screenings done at the same time. For now, just making sure I drink plenty of fluids and get enough rest. In 5 days, my life will be back to normal and I can't wait to pick up a book to read for pleasure! Christian bought me the book "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks; that'll be the first one I read.