Baby White Week 33

So this week was filled with lots of gifts! Can't say I don't like it :)

First, my mom got me some more maternity/nursing things. Actually clothing me through this has been just as expensive as all the baby gear! :(
But alas, I'd outgrown my two pairs of maternity jeans. Well, I can still squeeze in them, but uncomfortably. My bootcut pair only had the small like 2 inches of elastic in the front, and since Sophia always feels low to me, things that bind at all in that area are really uncomfortable. Then my skinny pair got too tight in the thighs.
So now, I have a nice pair of full panel bootcuts, thanks to Old Navy and mom :)
I also got to treat myself to three nursing gowns and a robe from Motherhood. Thanks again mom- would not have splurged on that myself!
Oh- and I also caved and got a support belt. To help with that soreness down low. Since I plan to work as long as possible- I'm hoping this will help. I really did feel a lightening when I tried it on in the store. Ans it's oh so sexy- NOT! :)

I went to the doctor Monday. Everything is on track. I measured 33cm, so right on target there. I think my weight gain is up to about 15 pounds. At the time Sophia was head down, and a little at an angle. She's not engaged yet, nor should she be according to the midwife. She also encouraged me to exercise at least 4 times a week, but brisk walking is enough. I can continue Zumba as long as I don't do it intensely. Not that that's even an option :)

This weekend I went back to my birthplace, and my dad and most of my mom's side of the family, for a shower there. It was so nice and we got a LOT of great things. My step-mom and sister planned it. My step-mom is such a sweet person that even some of her friends and family who don't really know me attended. In fact there were several people there that I didn't know or barely knew at all. I think that speaks well of my step-mom and sister.

They put so much time, effort and money into making it special. I was sitting there thinking "all because of you little Sophia, you are already loved!" We played the clothespin game, guess the baby food (by sight only!), baby trivia and how big is the belly. It was a nice time. My aunts and cousins from my mom's side also came, and I have not seen them in literally like 5 years. It was good to see everyone doing well.
Sunday night I cam home to John, and we went through the loot. We now have over 600 wipes and over 400 diapers. Wow! I went and added some bigger diapers to the registry, since we have a lot of size 1.

How big is my belly?

Cute monkeys!

Sister and I

Step-mom, dad and me

Diaper cake!

Cute

So simple to make them look like flowers with those wrappers!

Pretty spread

Long time no see family :)

And yes, I wore the "inmate" sweater again. Don't hate :)

There was one scary moment this weekend. I had to stop for fuel on my way home Sunday. As I was walking from the store back to my car parked at the pump, I was almost run over. Literally I had to dash out of the way and scream. This very apologetic lady was driving her white SUV with a toddler in the back, and apparently had glanced down as she was heading out of the parking lot. She had to have been totally not looking in front of her. I'd been there since she was about 40 feet away. She was picking up speed to turn in between the pumps and leave, and basically turned straight for me. It was until she got about 5 or 10 feet away that I realized she wasn't stopping. It all happened really fast but I'm pretty sure she only missed me by about 3-5 feet. She rolled down her window and said she was was SO sorry like 15 times. I finally waved her off and just said "I'm just glad you didn't hit me". But I was actually pretty peeved that her negligence almost injured or possibly even killed me or Sophia. But praise God he was watching out for me!

Baby White Week 32

So I had my grandma over for lunch this week, and she said "Wow you've really popped out since I saw you last, you look like you're about 8 months!" I smiled and told her as of Friday I would be 8 months! Lol.

She then looked confused, since I'm not due until November. I reminded her that due dates are at the END of 9 months, and really the beginning of the 10th, 40 weeks. She proceeded to tell me her doctors had always told her pregnancy was 36 weeks. Not sure if she was confused then or remembers wrong. But it got me to thinking how so much we know about pregnancy and birth has changed. That's why there really are some things you can't take grandma's advice on :)

She shared with me that in her day- maternity skirts had an open area at the belly and then strings to tie it up above your bump. Sounds like a lot going on! She did say "course no one really wears maternity clothes anymore". I told her I know that's common, but I sure do. She said "I haven't seen you in anything maternity, it's all been tight". Lol. I told her that even though my clothes are fitted, they are maternity (mostly) or the hemlines would be showing my gut! Of course even my aunts laugh and tell me that "in their day" maternity clothes meant big flowing tent tops.

I'm still feeling rather round these days. I find myself asking for more favors, just because I feel too tired to get back up. It would also be nice to have someone to put my socks and shoes on, lol. I can do it, it's just a little tougher than it used to be. I'm also restricted at the gym. I'm still doing Zumba once or twice a week, but my movements and flexibility are much less defined than they used to be :) I can't imagine taking a regular yoga class at this point. But my gym doesn't have pregnancy yoga :(

I've had a couple of pretty tired nights this week. They were both on the days I worked. By the time I get home, I'm just ready to be a couch potato. I've been watching "More Business of Being Born" this week, and I've fallen asleep watching both times!

The episode with Ina May Gaskin made me swear off Cytotec. Her "Remember the Mothers" quilt involves so many women who died from uterine rupture or amniotic fluid embolus who had Cytotec. If I need chemical cervical ripening, they are gonna have to find me some Cervidil.

We also finished our Bradley classes this week. I feel prepared by everything we learned, but I'm not sure John does. Our instructor has started nursing school this semester, so she is not taking on any more doula clients. However, she has said "I never turn down a birth if I can make it" so I think the plan is for us to contact her when I go into labor and see if she can be with us for at least some of it. In fact when I was jokingly lamenting about John's lack of enthusiasm for the course she was like "it's ok, I'm gonna be there for you." :) So we shall see...

Saturday my best friends threw me a baby shower. My mom was so sad she couldn't be there. But alas, work calls! So my grandma said she was going to be my mom for the day.

Me and grandma

The loot!

Visting

More visiting- and I love the tissue poms hanging. I took them all for the nursery!

Ms. Lily smiling at Mrs. Tia.

Sarah and niece Leah

Super cute cones decorated in lollipops and cake pops!

Dessert table

Me and the hostesses :)

Everything at home!

I had a wonderful time visiting at the shower. We played several games including one-handed cloth diapering, baby food speed eating and bottle speed drinking. My friends must really love me to eat pureed peas and sweet potatoes! I did the bottle drinking. It was really hard! I don't know how a baby could get anything out of those bottles. The flow was sooooo slow! But I think all that effort would give you a nice defined jaw :)

When I got home John and I sat in the nursery and he re-opened all the gifts :) This also gave me a chance to save the bags and even some tissue paper while organizing the gifts. You know with my OCD I had to find a place for everything ASAP!

I'd have more photos, but my camera decided to die about 30 minutes into the shower. But luckily friends took photos too.

And because this post isn't complete without a belly shot:

I love this dress! Thanks MIL Mel!

Stay tuned

I'll do my weekly prego update later this weekend, so I can include baby shower photos!

I have a mani/pedi appointment in the morning, then I plan on spending a little time at the beach before coming home to get ready for the shower. I'm so looking forward to a fun day!

Baby White Week 31

So let me update you on the provider we chose...

Ultimately, we decided to stick with a midwife and switch practices. It was a tough decision and by the time we came to it, I honestly didn't care anymore.

We met with the MD at our current practice. She was super nice. We liked her personality a lot. She was polite, calm and patient-centered. She's pretty natural minded for an MD. She has a 15 month old girl herself and had an unmedicated natural birth. If there wasn't a midwife in town, she would be my first choice for a doctor.

Immediately after that we met with the midwife at the other practice. She was also natural and patient-centered. She is pretty forthright and speaks overly loud. Her personality is alright, but not as pleasant. However, she is even more naturally minded than the doctor. She is ok with extending pregnancy one week more than the doc. And of course she has a great reputation in this area. A lot of my friends have used her.

Overall, John and I felt that a midwife is what we went into pregnancy wanting, so that's what we would keep. I also like the office practices better at the midwife's office. I realize I only have one experience to base it off of, but at the other office we waited about 5 minutes in the waiting room and about five or ten minutes in the consultation room. Our current practice runs at least 30 minutes behind at all times. Or at least all the times I have been there. I honestly don't mind if there's a wait, but I do want to be informed when I sign in. Our current office never does this. If my appointment is going to be delayed 30-60 minutes, I think it's only courteous to let me know when I arrive. I understand the doctors have emergencies or blips in their schedule. But I should get to make the decision if I want to wait that long, or reschedule.

And of course you know I was upset with the way they handled informing us that our midwife was gone. I feel her patients should have been contacted immediately. A letter, a phone call, something. If I had not called 2 days before my scheduled appointment to ask why my reminder phone call listed another provider, I would not have been told until I showed up. That meant several weeks lost that I could have been looking for another provider or deciding whether to stay. I also loathe their phone system. I don't want a busy signal 3-5 times before getting through. I don't want to call during my lunch (when most people have time to make personal calls) to find out that you don't answer your phones for 90+ minutes a day because you are on lunch. Eat in shifts. Getting a voicemail box. The only options shouldn't be no answer or leaving a message with the emergency service.

Actually, the practice manager called me yesterday. I was expecting it. The hospital that owns the practice has a Facebook page, and I went on their and posted a bit of a complaint. They still have my midwife listed on their website, in several places. I told them that was false advertisement and that I was upset with the way her leaving was handled. It would have been much better service to let her deliver her current patients (not take on any new ones) and then let her go. So I will probably call the practice manager and let her know my concerns, at least about the phone system and informing people of delays.

So now that I'm on the two week appointment schedule, I'll be headed back to the midwife on the 24th. I hope all will go well.

I also staged the nursery this week for a photo shoot. Now you can all see the completed look!

Of course the bassinet will move out to our room once she's here

I found an older hardback copy of "Little Women" at a yard sale. I love the book and the cover is very feminine.

We'll be holding onto this Bumbo seat since it may be hard to get one anymore! All because of silly people who can't follow instructions!

The print on the left says "Love you to the moon and back" The photo on the right is of our dogs :)

Pink tub to hold hairbows and headbands :) The pink blanket in the middle is the "make do" changing pad for now.

Dad's guitar is waiting for him to play lullabies :)

A nice soft glow from the lamp next to the swing

Comfy seat for lots of rocking. Along with a monogrammed pillow.

This week our city had a "Mom to Mom" resale event. It's like a huge temporary consignment store. The organizers take in your stuff and label and display it and handle all the sales. We weren't going to stop in since John is really not wanting us to buy anything else until after our showers, but he said we could pop in if I wanted to. I did :)

It was a mad house in there! Today some items were half off. But I did really good, since I took the hall monitor (John) with me. Can I just say that bringing your husband shopping is somewhat like eating dinner with your personal trainer at like, McDonalds or something. What was I thinking? I had about 10-15 dollars worth of stuff when we went to get in the checkout line, which went halfway around the building. Probably a 20-30 minute wait. That's when the hall monitor decided we should only get in line if I "really wanted that stuff". I gave up in exasperation. It was already clear he was not enjoying this like I do. He tried to backpedal with the "if you want it, we can wait," but for me all the joy was gone. So I put down the pile of a few hooded towels, bibs, burp cloths and a shopping cart cover and headed home.

I sure hope they'll be plenty of yard sales and that I'll feel up to going to them in October. I am sure we'll get lots of nice things from our family and friends, but I don't expect people to spend boocoos of money on us. I couldn't do that for someone else.

Last night we got out and walked around downtown for Gallery Night. So you're going to ignore that I'm wearing the same shirt from last Friday. It's my new favorite and the weather was cool enough for me to be comfortable in it. :)

Nothing out of the ordinary symptom wise. I think my feet and legs are starting to swell a little. I can't tell you how hard it was to get those boots on! Thankfully they came off easily.
My poor bladder is really being compressed these days. It feels full quite a lot, sometimes even when it's barely got anything in it at all :) I'm getting bigger and more awkward all the time :) But that's ok for now. Too bad it isn't ok for women to always be this round in the middle and still be considered "cute". Lol

Next week is my "big" shower, and I'm excited! I'm getting a mani pedi the morning of it too! Can't wait to share with you!

Because I said I have other things to talk about than pregnancy...

Of course with pregnancy brain, I can't remember half of them...

I got new lamps for our bedroom. I've had these modern yet small nickel bases with white drum shades for awhile. They function well- (I like pull chains!) and were cute enough, but I really wanted something more substantial, that made more of a statement. But lamps are so expensive! After looking at several stores I finally found a pair at TJMaxx in Tampa, and my sweet momma treated me to them!

Notice the pillowcases- those were another treat from Stein Mart here in town. I love me a monogram!!!

I would've taken a shot of the whole bed but alas, it was unmade :)

This past weekend was also my hubby's birthday. Friday night we went out for hibachi (one of his favorites) and it was so good! I tried a new place that came highly recommended, and they did not disappoint. Our chef was also cheesy, yet funny. And of course their knife skills are amazing.
We ended up at a table with three other random couples. At first it was weird but the chef talking to us and time passing helped everyone loosen up. We were chit chatting and laughing by the end. John and I decided it would be strange yet fun to go to hibachi often and pretend to be different people every time. Since you usually discuss surface stuff- like where you work. Like maybe he could be a taxidermist and I could be an exotic dancer. (Which would be pretty hard to believe, but still funny). We could pick bizarre careers and watch people's reactions. Oh the stuff we come up with.

Saturday John got his wish to sleep in due to rain. Rain is rather a buzz kill for yard sales. Saturday night we went to dinner with about 10 friends at Chili's. It was also tasty. For the most part they are a pretty consistent reliable chain.

Yesterday I purged our closets. I'd say it's nesting, but it's also just a normal part of my personality. I don't like it when the closets start getting cramped. And I know space is only going to become more valuable as our family grows. So I ended up with 4 garbage bags of things to get rid of. Some is going to friends, some I'm going to take to Plato's Closet (we just got one!) and some will be donated. I feel much better letting go of things that just don't quite fit right, so they get passed over repeatedly in the closet. I also got rid of several pairs of heels :( Somehow I don't see myself fitting into them again. I kept about 8 pair, for church and special occasions. I also got rid of about 10 handbags. Because I yard sale, I'm forever bringing in "new" stuff, and to keep it manageable that means old stuff has to go!

Maybe my renewed vigor to continue the cleaning and redecorating has to do with the weather change too. We've been sleeping with the windows open for a couple nights, and our highs are low 80's. Hopefully this means fall is coming and we won't have too many more super hot days left this year. That also gets me thinking that fall means a baby, and I better get busy!

Oh, we did meet with the doctor and midwife yesterday. We decided, but I'll save that for another post.

Baby White Week 30

This girl thinks my belly is her playground! Which I guess technically, it is. I feel as if not much more room is available, but she certainly doesn't feel "locked and loaded" yet, because she's still doing all kinds of acrobatics in there.

I wish I could tell what parts I'm feeling. I suspect by shape it's either a head or a butt :)
She's super active in the evenings. A couple nights ago before bed I had John feeling her. We were just laying there talking, and she was kicking a lot. John says he's glad he doesn't have to put up with that. :) But then, she did a huge roll or move of some sort. John freaked out and moved his hand immediately. He said he has seen that movie and it ends up with him dead. (Independence Day). Lol. I will admit the rolls and turns feel funny from the inside too!

Sophie still seems to be a bit shy. Often she stops moving when she feels a hand, or even when I'm just watching my belly or trying to video it. It's like she knows! But I did manage to get a little clip of her morphing my belly into a weird shape.

This week you may have noticed a FB post that I have decided pregnancy should only be 32 weeks. I think that's about as big as I should/can get. Unfortunately I am assured that I can get much bigger. I'm already starting to slow down. It's harder to bend, wear anything but supportive orthopedic shoes, eat much, be far from the bathroom or walk more than a few minutes. It's about a 5-7 minute walk from my work to the parking lot. For me it's probably 10 minutes now. I just have no motivation to move quickly, especially at the end of the day. But yet there is so much I want to do!

This weekend was John's birthday. We had tasty Hibachi last night, and the couple next to us asked how far along I was. Guess It's pretty obvious now :)

I actually have some non-pregnancy things I want to write about, so I guess I'll wrap this up and tell you about something besides pregnancy :)

Baby White Week 29

Hi everyone!

I hope y'all could enjoy a nice holiday weekend! We did :) We went to the Tampa area to visit my hubby's side of the family.

We enjoyed a lot of rest, food and good times. Friday my wonderful mother-in-law took me shopping in the Motherhood Maternity section of Macy's! I got 4 tops, a dress, a pair of slacks and some undies. It was really nice. I can't wait to wear it all!

On Sunday John's mom hosted a family get together and baby shower! We were blessed with clothes, diapers, a blanket, teething ring, carseat toy and books. Grandma to be White is even making a quilt for Sophia using an old shirts of ours. We were also blessed with the funds to purchase a dresser for the nursery. It was great to see the family and catch up on everything.

Some of the spread

Homemade red velvet cake- one of John's favorites!

Baby Shower day

Sophia's first diaper cake! With teething ring, rubber ducky, sign, onesies

Opening gifts

Love this dress!

The quilt from grandma

Me, John and Grandma-to-be Melanie

Uncle Jeff, Cousin Justen and Aunt Hali

Bill, Thomas and Aunt Tiffany

Cousin Alexis, Uncle Carl and Aunt Maria (aka diaper cake maker!)

Bedside table Grandma Melanie gave us

Closer view of some of the gifts

Books!

Onesies from all grandma's travels. The red one is from Phoenix and says "Giddy up", the mint green is from Vegas and says "If I don't sleep nobody sleeps" and the blue one says "Siesta Time" and is from Sedona. Also a lovely mommy and me skincare kit from Hylunia and a penguin face hot/cold pack.

Soft tiger pillow from Cousin Justen

Lamp given by Grandma Melanie

Lots of clothes from Aunt Hali and Uncle Jeff (piled up to be washed!)

Blanket, toy, and birth announcement frame

This week Sophia is starting to take up a lot of space in there! Just when I feel like I am getting used to being pregnant, something changes! Just today she has been moving, rolling and morphing my belly into all kinds of weird shapes. And poking around the outer edges of my sides and ribs. It's a tad uncomfortable, but also really cool. She's making herself more known every day!

I have appointments next Monday with both a doctor and a midwife. So hopefully by Tuesday my decision will be made! I found a professional FB page for my old midwife and wrote her on there, but haven't heard anything back :( I wasn't too hopeful because there was no photo and basically no activity on the page, but I still wish I could've heard from her.

This week my hands and feet are just a tad bigger than normal. Nothing noticeable to anyone but me. I'm hoping getting back into our normal eating and drinking routine will solve that. We ate out and lavishly a lot over the weekend :)

My weekly photo is in a different spot this week, taken on Baby Shower day :)

See everyone next week!