Guess my baby :)

http://www.guessyourbaby.com/p/joshallyssa

Go guess the gender, length, weight, birth date and time :) I'm curious to see what people think.

Voting on baby's gender

FIL and SMIL think baby is a girl and her name is Coconut Giraffe. lol

Car seat and nursery progress

27 weeks

Biggest milestones of this week (writing this on thursday since I got lazy):

• got carseat! thanks FIL!
• passed my GD test with a 5.7 (apparently canada measures differently than the u.s.)
• DH got kicked in the head (lol)
• third trimester :)
• uber heartburn/acid reflux

Crazy baby didn't even go nuts after the UBER sugar GD drink. Worried me for a while there. Been pretty active since then though.

One week from tomorrow until we leave to go to Nevada!

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

The second trimester is drawing to a close, but as your body gears up for the final lap, you may start noticing some new symptoms. Along with an aching back, for example, you may find that your leg muscles cramp up now and then. They're carrying extra weight, after all, and your expanding uterus is putting pressure on the veins that return blood from your legs to your heart as well as on the nerves leading from your trunk to your legs.

Unfortunately, the cramps may get worse as your pregnancy progresses. Leg cramps are more common at night but can also happen during the day. When a cramp strikes, stretching the calf muscle should give you some relief.

Straighten your leg and then gently flex your toes back toward your shin. Walking for a few minutes or massaging your calf sometimes helps, too.

It may be the furthest thing from your mind right now, but it's not too soon to think about family planning. You'll want to have made some decisions about postpartum birth control before your baby arrives. If you're considering a tubal ligation, be aware that most states require you to sign a consent form at least 30 days beforehand. So if you'd like the option of having the surgery during your postpartum hospital stay, don't wait too much longer to discuss it with your caregiver. (You can still change your mind later.)

Justice!

I reported a semi truck driver who was on his cell phone today. It's illegal and he was driving in a truck so I remembered the truck number, time and place and called in. The lady answering the phone sounded very frustrated and said that they take that very seriously.

Pregnancy Problems

Trying to get up from sitting on the ground and falling backwards back onto your butt...

Really cool crayon art

Pregnancy Problems

Crowded house with small passage spaces and an ever-expanding belly... oh yeah, and NO VOICE to be able to say "excuse me" loudly...

Pregnancy Milestone

On Friday, someone I hadn't seen in a long time was able to tell that I was pregnant :) She still didn't say anything but she did notice and said that when I told her :) Hooray!

Sick, tired and hormonal

Just about cried over a message that I got from a group asking me to take a post down. The message was overly formal from someone I'd talked to before and gave no reason as to why I need to take it down when I just posted it for the benefit of other moms who according to most, might actually use them...

Also a deals site that I WILL NOT MENTION (because I'm mad at them) posted a teaser yesterday afternoon about an item that they might be selling at some point apparently in the FAR FAR future. I'm irritated beyond belief that they haven't posted it yet because I want to freaking KNOW what it is!!!!! They keep telling people "patience is a virtue" and I'm thinking "srs guys? just freaking tell us!!!" I'm so irritated I'm thinking of not checking out their site for days. I'll be able to go back and see what it was after the fact but the fact that they have me hanging onto every status update on facebook hoping that they're telling us what it is, is pissing me off.

9 weeks of growth

26 weeks

(Written on Monday) Baby was doing gymnastics last night multiple times. So I'm pretty sure baby is now feet down since I'm getting so many low low kicks today. Those gymnastics are pretty cool to feel though.

Only 14 weeks left and almost in the 3rd trimester. Today (Tuesday) marked 6 months pregnant. 3 months and 5 days left until my due date.

We are estimating that baby will come on September 29th which is 40+5. Any guesses?

How your baby's growing:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. That's amazing how baby has gone from a tiny little cell to close to 2lbs in 26 weeks... wow. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

Are you rushing around trying to get to childbirth classes and prepare your baby's room while still taking care of all your other daily tasks? Make sure that you also continue to eat well and get plenty of rest. Around this time, your blood pressure may be increasing slightly, although it's probably still lower than it was before you got pregnant. (Typically, blood pressure falls toward the end of the first trimester, and it tends to reach a low at about 22 to 24 weeks.) BP is already higher than it was before pregnancy. I wonder if that puts me at a higher risk for pre-e... Childbirth classes are booked and I'm hoping baby stays put until the end of them on Aug 30.

Preeclampsia — a serious disorder characterized by high blood pressure and protein in your urine — most often shows up after 37 weeks, but it can happen earlier so it's important to be aware of the warning signs of this condition. Call your caregiver if you have swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, more than slight swelling of your hands, excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, or rapid weight gain (more than 4 pounds in a week). With more severe preeclampsia, you may experience other symptoms. Let your caregiver know immediately if you have a severe or persistent headache, vision changes (including double or blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, sensitivity to light, or temporary loss of vision), intense pain or tenderness in your upper abdomen, or vomiting. I think I'm doing well on this part so far. Hoping for no surprises at the Dr. in a few weeks here, before we head down to visit hubby's family in Nevada. I have no swelling in my feet or anywhere else it shouldn't be. I can't wear my rings overnight so I leave them off all the time because of the pain that comes if I forget to take them off at night (but that's probably because of regular weight gain as I found it hard to wear them overnight when I was heavier before WW as well).

If your lower back seems a little achy lately, you can thank both your growing uterus — which shifts your center of gravity, stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, and may be pressing on a nerve — as well as hormonal changes that loosen your joints and ligaments. Plus, the extra weight you're carrying means more work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints, which is why you may feel worse at the end of the day. Walking, standing, or sitting for long periods, as well as bending and lifting can all put a strain on your back. A warm bath or hot compress might bring relief. (Some women, though, find cool compresses more comforting.) Try to maintain good posture during the day, avoid activities that require bending and twisting at the same time, take frequent breaks when sitting or standing, and sleep on your side with one or both knees bent with a pillow between your legs, using another pillow (or wedge) to support your abdomen. I have all this already and use it most nights. It does help sometimes but other times it's just comfier not to have to move a pillow around when I change positions.

Nursery Idea

Given these top two pictures with dimensions of the room and what furniture is there so far, as well as the fact that we wanted the crib on the green wall (shown as the bottom wall) and away from the heater with the window above it, a friend on my facebook came up with the bottom three as ideas for us! Isn't she so clever and artistic! 

25 weeks

Baby is kicking more and harder. It's quite fun to see my stomach shake and quite fun to feel the big stretches where I get booted up high and down low. I don't think I will get tired of this. It's very reassuring.

I have 7 days of work left with the kids and then one more outside of that. I am SOOOOO ready for the summer. It means that the count down to baby is so much closer! The summer will be awesome (but hot) and I can't wait to go visit hubby's family in mid July. Once the summer is over, we're only about 4 weeks away from the baby being here.

I'm so excited to hold and dress and nurse and play with my baby. It's becoming more real. It's not fully real yet, but I'm getting super excited. The nursery needs some more furniture and wall art, but I don't know that I want to do the wall art until I know exactly where the furniture is going to go.

I'm trying to think about what furniture we've still got to put in the room... I'm thinking we still need to put out:

• mamaroo bouncer
• tummy time mat
• swing
• rocker/glider (not sure which is going to go in the baby room)

How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods. My dr. has said to take it easy. I take that as a lot of sitting and resting and no working out/long walks.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks (27 weeks :( blah), a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

Have you started thinking about baby names yet? Choosing a name is an important decision, but it should be a fun one, too. You may want to consider family history (Great Grandpa Zeb), favorite locations (Venice, where you honeymooned), or cherished literary or film characters (Greta, Meg, or Atticus, for example). Check out a couple of baby-name books to help you brainstorm, too. Family names - check! Both names are set in stone. Just hoping and praying when baby comes out, he/she fits the name :)

High Chair Covers

So we recently got a used Peg Perego Prima Pappa Diner high chair off CL for $20. It originally cost about $200. I'm super excited. The vinyl cover on it is super cracked and crappy looking so we're in the market for a new cover. I came across this etsy shop while googling. She makes high chair covers for all sorts of high chairs and they're machine washable (the vinyl isn't).

So now I'm deciding which fabric I like. We're going to get ourselves on her waiting list (3-5 weeks currently). This is what our high chair looks like currently. It's got green on the bottom of the frame and the rest of the frame is white.

Here's the fabric I like:

2D zoo                                        alphabet soup

 bugs                                          crayon craze

jungle boxes                                   seafoam polkadot

 Which one would you get? Keep in mind the green on the frame and which would show fewer stains.

Laugh of the day

omfg
listen to this
[my student] and i were talking about the baby otw back to school
and he wants baby to be a boy
i told him its a 50 50 chance
he told me that someone else decided.
God and [DH's] sperm!!!
lmfao!

(copied from gtalk telling DH)... my student is 12 and it was hilarious to hear him say something about SPERM haha

Toilet Paper Tuesday

(Not my idea, got it from a lady on FB who got it from someone on babycenter)
Okay Ladies....its TOILET PAPER TUESDAY!

What you do is grab your toilet paper, wrap it around you and see how many squares it takes to get all the way around. It works best if you use the same kind of TP each week, since different brands have different size squares. Every Tuesday update with far along you are and how many squares. (I swear it made the pregnancy fly by last time with something to look forward to each week!).

Week 1 (16w1d): (tiny bit under) 12 squares
Week 2 (18w2d): (tiny bit under) 12 squares
Week 3 (19w1d): 12 squares
Week 4 (21w1d): (tiny bit more than) 12 squares
Week 5 (23w1d): 12 1/4 squares
Week 6 (24w1d): 12 2/3 squares

The difference 24 weeks makes

24 weeks

Heartburn has introduced itself to me within the last few days. It's not very exciting. Sleep is harder to do. I have to get up to use the bathroom or else baby kicks me and keeps me awake. I'm just loving the kicks. They're the best thing in the world. I only wish that hubby could feel what the kicks feel like on the inside.

Still people who don't know me well aren't daring enough to ask if I'm pregnant... I almost bought a shirt today that said something about pregnancy just so I could wear it on friday to the sports day with all those people I only see once a year and it be obvious. I don't want all the attention that TELLING everyone brings but I want them to know so they don't think I'm getting fat.

How your baby's growing:

And they don't even mention the biggest excitement of this week! Viability! The hospitals will try save babies born after 24 weeks. Within the next few weeks, baby's chance of survival skyrockets!

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How your life's changing:

In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. That's just unreal to me... soccer balls are so BIG!! Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT 1 hour test) between now and 28 weeks. Not sure if I'm hoping to do it before or after our trip to Nevada... I'll ask the Dr. when he usually books them when I see him on thursday. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition.

Untreated diabetes increases your risk of having a difficult vaginal delivery or needing a cesarean section because it causes your baby to grow too large, especially in his upper body. It also raises your baby's odds for other complications like low blood sugar right after birth. A positive result on your GCT doesn't mean you have gestational diabetes, but it does mean that you'll need to take the glucose tolerance test (GTT 3 hour test) to find out for sure.

Finally, if you don't already know how to spot the signs of preterm labor, now's the time to learn. Contact your caregiver immediately if you notice any of the signs mentioned below.

If I could do it all over again...

...I'd make the nursery dalmations (or zebra) themed with red, white and black as the colours. It would really stimulate baby as a newborn :)

Stim items I'm LOVING right now (click to see item on amazon):

I found this on CL and the lady will sell it to me for $10 (worth $30 here). So excited!

Laundry

You know you're going to be a mom when you're SUPER excited about laundry soap and wool dryer balls ;)

Best part: It's cloth diaper safe and baby friendly. It's also 18 cents a load ($20 for the whole thing) and once it's used up, it's 9 cents a load because we can refill the tin at the store we got it at for $10.

Yeah I did a load of laundry with both today!