Christmas/New Years

Sorry that it's taken so long to get to a holiday post. We've had quite a number of visitors to the Hamilton household. So, it's been pretty hectic.

Christmas was very fun for Miss Hailey. She really enjoyed opening presents on Christmas morning. In truth, what she really enjoyed was trying to put all of the wrapping paper in her mouth. She's getting really fast in the hand to mouth race.

It took quite a while to open gifts because we had to take a breakfast break midway through. She got so many wonderful toys and new outfits that I've just now gotten everything washed and put away. She's been playing with all of her new toys (even though we said that we were going to put some of them away for later). She's been having lots of fun with all of them, particularly the ones that make some type of annoying noise!

Here are a few pics of the events.

Jeans, Jeans, Jeans

There are certain articles in every woman's wardrobe that are truly sacred - a comfortable bra, a pair of sexy underwear, a beat up college t-shirt, and a spectacularly perfect-fitting pair of jeans. Before I got pregnant, I had two pairs of perfect jeans. Of course, I paid what I would consider an ungodly amount for them. There aren't many articles of clothing that I will splurge on, but I wear jeans day after day for years and years. So, as far as I'm concerned, they're worth a pretty penny and then some.

It wasn't long after I got pregnant that I packed up my perfect jeans along with all of the other clothes that I had been wearing and put them in a box labeled "Alisa's skinny clothes." About a week after I had Hailey, I ventured into the attic to pull out that box. After all, I was skinny again, right? Wrong. It's taken me almost 5 months, but yesterday I finally squeezed myself into one of my perfect pair of jeans (the other pair are a bit smaller!). I wore them to the hockey game last night (where the Sabres clobbered the Predators). I waited all day at work to put those jeans on, and it was great! I'll be wearing them at least for the next three days. Of course, I can't wash them until I lose another pound or so because if they shrink at all, I'll be back to my maternity clothes.

In other news, Hailey made it on the jumbotron at the hockey game last night. She was wearing her Predators outfit with her Buffalo Sabres bib. She has mixed allegiances. What can you do?? She loves to go to the games and stare at the white ice. So, it was a fun time for everyone except the diehard Predator's fans, since the Sabres beat them 7-1. Yikes!

National Blog Recognition

A few months ago, I purchased a book about work and family called Mommy Wars. It's a great book that I highly recommend to any parent because it clearly shows that there are no easy answers when it comes to work and family. Anyway, the woman who edited the book, Leslie Morgan Steiner, has a blog about the subject on the Washington Post website. On Tuesdays, she has guest bloggers. Anyone can write in. So, tomorrow, I will be the guest blogger. Here's the link to the site so please check it out.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/onbalance/

Also, you will note that I created a new blog It's Mommy Time that I've linked to at the end. I really wanted to build that up as a more generic version of my current blog, but I haven't been able to figure out how to move all of the comments and stuff over. So, I'm just going to leave it as is for now.

Cute Baby

Can I appease you with this picture??? 

Lessons in Fatherhood - Part 1

ALWAYS WEAR STAIN-DEFENDER PANTS

On Saturday, Hailey had the privilege of attending her first wedding ceremony and reception. She was dressed in her finest attire - a beautiful pink floral dress, white tights, and a coat. Luke's boss had given her the outfit, and this was the perfect event to show it off. She looked adorable (as you might imagine). Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures to commemorate the event because we were too busy just trying to get ourselves there on time. We figured that we would take the pictures after the wedding...HA!

Just as the bride and groom were beginning their first dance, Hailey had an explosion - a major explosion. Luckily (for Mommy that is), she was sitting on Daddy's lap. His leg was covered in yuck in a matter of seconds. It was a great example of Mommy/Daddy teamwork. Mommy held poopie baby while Daddy wiped poopie off of his pant leg. I have to say, those Dockers pants are amazing. I know I sound like a Dockers commercial, but a few wipes with a napkin and you couldn't tell at all. It was amazing! Of course, Hailey didn't fair so well. Being the ultra-prepared Mommy that I am, I had brought an extra outfit, and we made a quick change in the bathroom. The dress survived the ordeal after a good bit of scrubbing and two types of stain remover. The adventures in poopiedom never cease.

Lessons in Motherhood - Part 3

It's been a while since Hailey has given me a good lesson in motherhood, but she's clearly been holding out for this whopper...

BEWARE OF POOP IN THE BATH.

Since her birth four months ago, I've given Hailey many baths in her sinktop bath tub, and we never had an incident. Ok, maybe a bit of peepee now and then, but that never hurt anyone. Just this week I started putting her in the big bathtub with me. It gives her more room to kick and splash, and it's easier on my back if I'm in there with her. See where this is going??? Last night, I waited until after she had eaten and pooped to get in the bath with her. It was "perfect timing." Until about 5 minutes into it, I hear a terrible noise. I look down and pray that it was just a bit of gas, but it wasn't. So, now I'm covered in poop, she's covered in poop, and there's poop floating (and sinking) in the water. After some screaming (me, not her), Daddy came to the rescue. The worst part about it was that I used all the hot water filling the tub twice and cleaning it in between. That meant cold shower for Mommy afterward. When did bathing become so complicated???

Daycare Decision

I visited three more daycares in the Franklin area yesterday, and I realized that all of the daycares are just about the same with only one differentiator - the people! All of the daycares separate the children into like ages, have age appropriate toys, change their diapers every hour or so, and send home daily forms with their activities. It's pretty routinized. So, what made me like one place over another was the quality and quantity of interaction that the children were having with the adults in the room, and I didn't really like what I saw anywhere. Basically, in an infant room, there are up to eight infants and two adults. That means that six of the eight infants are sitting somewhere, usually in a swing, exersaucer, crib, or bumbo by themselves while the other two infants are being fed, changed, etc. There aren't really a lot of group activities - singing, reading stories, and the like.

That's why I've decided to go with the in-home daycare that I visited near my office. It was the only place that felt comfortable and natural. Sure, it doesn't have all of the routinized, sanitized feeling as the other places, but that's why I like it. You see, Hailey is a very social child. She loves interacting with adults and especially with other children. She likes flirting with the little boys when Katie, our current sitter, takes her to her Mom's group. She just enjoys activity, noise, and even a little commotion. It's probably a combination of her age and her personality. Everything is fascinating to her right now. That's why I don't think that she is going to respond well to a typical daycare setting where the only interaction is with two adults and a few other little babies her age. At the in-home daycare, she can watch all of the older kids and participate in story time and the singing and other activities. She's going to love to watch them do things that she's not ready for yet, and she's going to learn. In the end, I'm looking for someplace that can keep her more than just "safe" for 8 hours a day. I'm looking for a place where she can be stimulated and learn. I'm hoping that's what this daycare can do for her. Plus, I'll be able to visit her every day at lunch to give her a little extra Mommy snuggle time.

Daycare Dilemma

In January, Hailey will have to start going to daycare 5 days a week. Right now, she stays with a friend of ours 3 days a week and gets to play with an 8 month old. Then, two days a week she stays with me while I work from home. It's been absolutely ideal, but she's getting more mobile now, and it's getting too difficult to juggle her and work. So, let the search for daycare commence.

First, let me just say that I am not a daycare prude. I am 100% open to the idea of putting Hailey into daycare. I think that it's good for her to interact with other children even at a young age. However, I'm not finding any daycares that I like, and what's worse, I'm not even sure I know what I'm looking for.

So far, I've visited three possibilities. All that have openings in January. The first one was a more "institutional" approach with children of like ages separated into rooms with a childcare monitor. I say monitor because I didn't see a whole lot of interaction, particularly with the infants. The second one was a slightly more open layout with kids of like ages separated into sections of one giant room. There was a little more interaction with the caregiver, but it didn't feel very warm, and basically spiraled into contained chaos when the older kids were having free play. The third option is in the lower level of a private home. There are a total of 12 kids, 3-4 infants and a bunch of other kids of various ages. There are only 2 childcare workers (one is the owner), but they are very warm and interactive with the children. The infants were carried and spoken to and played with. It seemed friendlier than either of the other two, but has some obvious drawbacks.

The other issue is do I find a place closer to work, which is much more difficult to find, but would allow me to visit her and even nurse at lunch? Or, do I find a place near home so that Luke can be involved in bringing her to/from the center? I think that I've almost exhausted my options near work, but tomorrow I'm going to visit 2-3 near home. Of the three that I've visited so far, I think that I like the in-home care the best. Any thoughts?

4 Months and We're Rolling

Oh no! We've entered the frightening world of baby mobility. We started rolling over yesterday, but we haven't quite mastered our technique yet, nor do we know what to do once we get all the way over. I'm sure that will come in time. For now, we hope you enjoy this four month old picture. You can see she's getting a bit chubby now. Must be all of Mommy's good milk!

Oops I Dropped It Again

It was so cute and fun when Hailey finally learned how to grab things. Unfortunately, that also meant that she learned to drop things. Drop her plastic keys, drop her rattle, drop her stuffed toy...you get the picture. Luckily, she hasn't realized that if she screams, Mommy will pick it up. I just pick it up out of generosity now. We'll see how long this lasts.

Family Leave

Some of you may have seen the 20/20 report the other night by Elizabeth Vargas on working motherhood in America. One of the most shocking statistic in the report was that only 4 out of 168 countries do not have a national maternity leave program. Those countries are Papua New Guinea, LeSotho, Swaziland and the United States. Yes, our friends in North Korea and Iran offer more support to working moms than our own country. She also interviewed Senator Christopher Dodd who has been a diehard supporter of maternity leave, but has been consistently thwarted by both Democrats and Republicans.

Since I've joined the millions of other working Moms in America, I'd like to contribute my two cents on the issue of government support for families. First, I think that there will never be any government-backed maternity leave until we reframe the issue as "family leave." We have to stop pitting men against women, those with children against those without, working moms against stay-at-home moms, etc.

Believe it or not, paid family leave is really a family value, not a hand out to women who choose to work and have a family. Don't get me wrong, the promise of paid family leave would certainly help working mothers, but it would also help single people adopting children, fathers expecting children, childless people with sick mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, etc.

It's not about giving me a handout because I choose to have kids. It's about deciding as a society that we are going to value family members caring for each other. That we are going to give sons and daughters the flexibility to take care of ailing parents, and foster parents time to adjust to caring for another human being, and fathers a chance to bond with their newborns. It's so vitally important and yet the "family values conservatives" are more worried about gay people marrying than how millions of American families are going to juggle raising kids, taking care of ailing parents, maintaining work responsibilities, and last (and always least), finding time for themelves. How 'bout them family values!

At the very least, I wish that there was a little more informed debate/discussion on the issue. We spend so much time arguing about much less important things. Here's something that affects everyone that we completely ignore.

If you want to read more on the topic you can read Leslie Morgan Steiner's blog on the subject at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/mt/mtb.cgi/13176

PS: Now that my ranting is done, I will tell you that Hailey Marie will be 4 months old on Sunday! She's giggling, grabbing things, and jumping in her johnny jumper. I can't believe it myself.

Happy Halloween

Hailey's first Halloween was both fun and low key. We didn't go trick or treating, but she did help us answer the door for all of the kids. We went through 6 bags of candy if that gives you any idea of the number of trick or treaters we had. I think that she really enjoyed seeing all of the new faces, even if they were kind of scary! At one point, these younger kids arrived and she let out this loud squeal. I thought that she was upset, but when I looked down at her, she was just overjoyed. It was pretty funny to hear her make all that noise. Here are some pictures that we took to commemorate the event. Luke calls the second picture Countess Droolcula! There are some additional pictures available on the Flickr account http://flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/.

World Traveler

Hailey is quite the world traveler. In her first three months of life, she's already been to Buffalo, Norfolk, the Outer Banks, and Atlanta. Some people don't travel that much in their entire lives! We've put some new pictures up of her trip to the beach on the flickr account... http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

Baby Snot

Hailey has her first cold ever. It's not too bad so far, just a lot of snot and congestion. She doesn't seem to bothered by the whole thing, and she doesn't have a fever so I'm really not overly concerned at the moment. The worst part about it is the bulb suction device (otherwise known as the snot sucker). I try to use it as much as possible just so that she can breathe a little easier. Luke used it last night and then started shouting, "Look at this big booger I just pulled out of her nose." In his defense, it is quite amazing when you pull something giant out of there, but I really don't need to see every gross, disgusting mess she makes!

2 Month Doctor Visit

Today was our two month doctor visit. Hailey weighs 10 lbs 1 oz and is 22.25 inches tall. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 40th percentile for her height. So, she's a little petite, but the doctor said that she looks like she's right on her proper trajectory. The doctor also marveled at how alert and happy she was for her age group. No surprise there...we all know that she is quite gifted. We also had to get the dreaded 2 month shots! It was three shots in the leg...ouch! Poor thing screamed louder than I've ever heard her scream before, but by the time we got home (which is a 5 minute drive), she was already asleep. She's pretty much been sleeping all day except for the half an hour when she ate. I'm just going to let her sleep off her grumpiness for now. We'll see how she reacts tonight.

New Pictures Available!

There are new pictures posted on our Flickr account. Here is the link... http://flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

In other news, Hailey took her first plane ride on Saturday. She was a perfect angel the whole way to Buffalo. Then, she spent the weekend visiting with friends and family. She was quite charming and everyone here was very taken with her adorableness. We are flying back to Nashville today, but she's been a bit fussy. So, wish us luck on the plane ride back!!!

A Mother's Love

When I was an evil teenager, I used to "hate" my mother. Not really hate her because you always love your mother, but in the teen angst years it's sometimes hard to remember that. So, let's just say that she was not among my favorite people in the world. It wasn't anything she did or said. It was more like everything she did and said. It just was the way it was. Probably lots of people can relate to that angry, depressed, angst-ridden type of disgust. I certainly know quite a few people that went through that in their teenage years and some who are going through it right now (but I won't name any names).

Well, I'm here to finally say to my Mom, "I get it." I understand. I appreciate you in a way that I never have before. In a way that I never could before I had my own. It is totally true - there is no love like a mother's love. There's no one that will feel your pain like a mother will, no one that will share your joy the same way, no one that will give up more for you, and subsequently, no one that you can hurt more.

So, if it's any consolation to mothers of all the attitudinally challenged teenagers out there, I'm here to tell you that there is hope. Because one day they'll understand too (if you're lucky and if not, well there's nothing you can do since these feelings don't come with an off switch).

By the way, as I write this heartfelt thought, Hailey is sitting on my lap making really loud poops and spitting up all over herself...now how can that be so adorable!

Back at Work

This is my first full week back at work. It was less heart wrenching than I thought it would be to leave Hailey for a whole day. I think that it's been easier for me because I don't have to worry about the quality of care that she's getting, and I know that I will be home with her on Wednesdays and Fridays. Those two factors have really made all the difference in the world.

I've gotten only positive reports about her behavior at Aunt Katie's house. She takes three bottles and then I nurse her immediately when I get home. Luke's been incredibly supportive and helpful with this arrangement, which is also a weight off my shoulders. All in all, I'd say that the transition has been pretty smooth so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything continues to work out.

Almost 6 Weeks

I can't believe that Hailey is almost 6 weeks old! Here are some new pics that Grandpa Pete took during his most recent visit. The smiles aren't actually a reaction to anything other than her own gas, but you've got to take what you can get at this point. It probably took me 30 pictures just to catch her with a smile...thank goodness for digital cameras!

Let's see, since my last blog, she's taken a bottle, become enthralled with our ceiling fan, and taken a trip to Cincinnati. Not bad for her first six weeks of life. Today we did a practice run with our sitter, Katie. I have to go back to work on Monday so Hailey will be with Katie on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I'll be working at home on Wednesdays and Fridays. I'm really hoping that this schedule works out so that I can continue working, especially since we can use the money now more than ever. The worst part about working again is having to worry about taking days off. I'd like to take a few trips while she's still young, but I have so much trouble scheduling vacation. It would be nice to just pick up and leave whenever I want, but I guess we'll have to just figure it out as we go along. The good news is that now that I'm working again, I'll have more time to blog.

Lessons in Motherhood - Part 2

NEVER CHANGE BABY BEFORE FEEDING BABY...Hailey is a big spitter upper. We have the subtle little spit ups that slowly drool out the sides of her mouth to the projectile spit up and everything in between. Plus, as an extra bonus, she not only spits up when she's finished eating, but for hours after eating. I don't think that I own any bedding that hasn't gotten spit up on it. It's a lot of fun.

To add some other excitement to the pot, Hailey has "thrush," which for those of you that don't know, is a yeast infection in her mouth. It turned her tongue completely white (which was really nasty). It also made nursing really painful again. The medicine that we have to give her is in liquid form, and we have to dropper .5 ml into each cheek and rub it around in her cheek. The medicine is this sweet smelling sticky crap that is really unpleasant, but it seems to be doing the job.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to get Luke to put some pictures up this weekend.

Lessons in Motherhood - Part 1

ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THE DIAPER WHEN CHANGING BABY IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING...

Last night Hailey slept for 5 hours from 9pm to 2am...what a gift! Then, she woke up again at 4:45am to eat, but she was a little wet in the behind so I decided to change her. Remember, it was 4:45am so I wasn't fully awake (I can nurse lying down now so I don't have to fully wake up). So, I changed her diaper in bed as I was half asleep. At about 7:45 this morning, she started fussing again and I hear this explosive wet poopy noise. Then, I roll her over and realize that I didn't put the diaper on all the way when I changed her at 4:00am so there is wet, yellow poopy all over her nightgown, blanket, my bed sheets, etc. It was a bad scene. Thank goodness it was 7:45 and not 2:00am or something. She got a much needed bath this morning and is now sleeping soundly!

Just Like Mommy

She looks just like her Mommy...don't you think??? Hailey on bottom and Mommy on the top.

Moooo!

Well, we've been home from the hospital for exactly one week today. It's been quite a ride so far with lots of ups and downs (but mostly ups). Hailey's really quite a calm baby, which is easy to say now that she's sleeping. She eats about 8 times a day, and she can nurse anywhere from 20 minutes to 50 minutes. So, if you figure that out, I spend the majority of my time - almost 8 hours a day - nursing. By the time I finish nursing and burping her, I get a few hours of peace before we start all over again. It's quite exhausting, and I feel like a milk cow! Despite the pain and the lack of free time, I wouldn't have it any other way.

In case you haven't seen the hospital pictures yet...you can go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/ . We need to get Daddy to take some more pictures soon.

HAILEY IS HERE

Hailey Marie Hamilton arrived at 7:44am on Sunday, July 30, 2006. She weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 20.5 inches long. She scored almost perfectly on her APGAR test, and was delivered without the use of any pain medication whatsoever. She has a full head of brown hair with blond undertones.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, I'll tell you some of the gorey details. On Saturday night, I started having contractions around 10:00pm. I had a feeling that I would go into labor on Saturday because it was the one day in the last month that my doula was out of town. Neither of us thought that I would be 8 days late so it didn't seem like the trip would be a big deal. Surprise, surprise...it's the day Miss Hailey finally decides to come.

So, I didn't recognize the contractions at first because it felt like back pains, and there was no pain at all in the front. I started timing the pain around 11pm, and they were about 8 minutes apart. It didn't take long to go from 8 minutes apart down to 5 minutes apart, and we were packed and in the car by 12:45am. We arrived at the hospital around 1:15am, and I measured only 4 cm. I was so pissed when I first got there because I had hoped to labor at home until I was at least 6 cm. Luckily, it only took about an hour to get from 4 cm to 6 cm.

Within another 2 hours, I was 8 cm. Since Amy, the doula, was not around, my Mom served as my doula and Luke was the coach. It was great! They were absolutely perfect and kept me completely calm and relaxed through each contraction. Since I had so much back labor, my Mom stood in front of me so that I could hold on to her while Luke sat behind me and rolled ice or massaged my back. It worked out very well (that's not to say that it wasn't ridiculously painful).
The midwives and nurses basically stayed out of our way since we were doing so well on our own.

At about 6:30am, I was 9.5 cm and ready to begin pushing. Pushing was by far the most invigorating, amazing, and painful experience of my life. Still, I knew I was at the end so it didn't take that much motivation for me to really give it my all. I pushed for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and I was able to reach down and feel her head when it crowned. Then, before I knew it there was a screaming, slimey baby on my belly. I kept her on my belly for a long time before they finally took her to clean her up. It was amazing!!!!

Here's the picture from just after she was born. Since we are still at the hospital, we haven't been able to get the pictures off of the camera, but we'll put them up asap.

Christmas with No Santa

It's 6:00am on Thursday, and I'm now officially 5 days overdue. I'm getting a little bitter about it at this point, which I know is a terrible thing. It's just that every night I go to bed feeling like I'm a little kid on Christmas Eve and wondering if Santa will come. Then, every morning I wake up to find that he hasn't. Now, imagine having that feeling of disappointment every day for two weeks. I know that she'll come when she's ready, and there's really not much I can do (that I haven't already tried). I'm not quite to the point of consuming caster oil (which my neighbor says works), but that point is getting closer every day. I think that everyone in this household is hoping that this ends soon, particularly as my crankiness quotient increases exponentially each day. At least we've learned one important lesson about Miss Hailey - she has her Dad's sense of timing :)

No News Yet

Well, my due date has come and gone, but still no Baby Hailey. We are all just waiting around eagerly anticipating her arrival. I feel like I've tied up every loose end that I had left so there is nothing to do but wait. Of course, we are trying to watch movies and take walks and eat lots of ice cream. We'll do just about anything to distract from the fact that there is no baby yet (even continue going to work). I had another midwife appointment today, and she's in the ready position. I guess just not ready enough.

In the meantime, here is a cute picture of the crib for you to enjoy. My Grandma, Hailey's Great Grandma, made the blanket that's draped on the crib. Hopefully, next time I write I'll have one of those goofy- looking hospital mug shots for you!!!

Hair/Eye Color Chart

Here are all of the hair/eye color guesses.

Last Ultrasound

We had our last ultrasound today, and Miss Hailey is doing very well in there. I don't really have any pictures to show for it, but she was in the low 7lb range. The midwife says that there is nothing to worry about so now we just have to wait! So here is the calendar with all of the birthday guesses. Some of you have already lost...too bad.

All Systems Are Go!

Just finished with my midwife appointment. Here's the news: Hailey has indeed dropped, my cervix is very soft and thin, and we are 1 cm dilated. It feels weird talking about my cervix on the blog, but isn't that the important stuff? So, I think that we are ready to go. No contractions yet, but the midwife felt very good about my progress and thought that it wouldn't be too long now.

Map of the Belly

If you can't read the text next to the map, you might need to click on the picture above and zoom in a little. Enjoy!

Hair/Eye Color Game

It's about time for everyone to take a guess about Hailey's hair and eye color. We are talking final eye color so don't pick blue just because they are all born with blue eyes in the beginning. For those of you that can't remember, I have red hair and brown eyes and Luke has brown hair and blue/green eyes. I'm almost 100% Italian and Luke's some type of mixed breed. So, it's pretty much a toss up as to what Hailey is going to look like. I have a guessing grid all set up already so you need to select 1) Hair Color = blond, brown, black or red and 2) Eye Color = blue, green, hazel, brown. I will add your guess to the grid and then post the results next week so that everyone can see which were the most popular combinations.

Also, if you would like to select a birth date, I'm keeping track of guesses on that as well. Just remember that if you want me to continue to like you, I'd think long and hard about picking a date much later than July 22nd (her official due date). It's already 96 degrees here and I'm carrying around an extra 35lbs so every day matters!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

6lbs Already?!?!?!

At our big ultrasound this morning, we were very pleased to learn that Hailey is 6lbs 1oz already! We have 24 days to go until her due date so she'll probably pack on at least another pound or so. Unfortunately, I don't have any very good pictures from this time around, but we were able to see just about everything (and we confirmed again that she is indeed a girl). The most amazing images were of her toes (I think I saw a toenail) and her hair. Yes, she's a hairy beast, but that's just as we expected given her Mommy and Daddy. We also saw her "practice breathing" which I guess is a good sign that she's about ready to come out. I'm getting so excited to meet her. I think that I'm going to go out today to buy my red raspberry leaf tea and my evening primrose vitamins. Next midwife visit is Wednesday the 5th, but I might post before then with pictures of the nursery.

Midwife Update and Cord Blood Donation Rant

We had our appointment with Shelly, our midwife, this morning. I'm still measuring a little small so we have to do another ultrasound next week. She said that she wants to keep an eye on Hailey's development, but that she's probably just going to be a small baby. I'm not going to worry about it at this point because 1) there's nothing that I can do about it except to eat healthy and take care of myself (which I'm already doing); 2) I was a smaller sized baby; and 3) we're going to love her no matter what size or shape she is.

Also, Luke and I were both able to feel her little head through my belly. That was pretty cool. She's head down so no breech babies here. Good little girl...way to save Mommy from a yucky c-section.

Now, let me bitch for a minute about this whole cord blood situation. Luke and I have always wanted to donate the cord blood from any children that we might be fortunate enough to have. Our opinion is that if our biomedical waste can somehow save someone else's child, then that's pretty much a no brainer for us. Unfortunately, I've waited too long to sign up so now we can't do it. I realize that this is completely my fault for procrastinating, but I honestly did not know that there would be no local programs and that it would be so confusing. Apparently, our government, in it's infinite wisdom, passed a law mandating that all pregnant women be given information about the program, but then they didn't fund any additional donation sites. So, it's basically worthless. Sounds pretty familiar!

More Shower Fun

Here is the belly at 35 weeks...pretty impressive, huh? Surprisingly, I'm still pretty comfortable on a day-to-day basis. Of course, I can't slouch or bend down. The most annoying thing is just the constant hiccups that she seems to have. It's such a bizarre feeling, and there's nothing that I can do about it except to wait for them to go away.

Anyway, last Sunday was our family and friends baby shower in Nashville. It was a couples shower, which was a little different but really fun. Hailey got lots of beautiful presents. Almost our entire registry was filled. Mom was here for the big event and then she spent the rest of her time washing all of the clothes and getting the nursery together. It looks pretty good now. Thank goodness for Moms. My next appointment with the midwives is Wednesday and then I'll have to go every week after that. I'll try to post again right after my appointment.

Babies Are Such a Good Deal

Little Baby Hailey is not even born yet and she’s already costing Mommy and Daddy a fortune. Call it the nesting instinct or just pure insanity, but over the weekend I decided that we absolutely had to redo Hailey’s closet immediately. She has a lovely walk-in closet with a window in it, but it
only had one shelf and bar that went all the way around the top. It was just the wire shelving crap that the contractor installed, and it would never do for our precious little one. So, off we go to Target, Home Depot, and finally, Lowes. Several hundred dollars later and poor Luke is forced
to put together multiple shelving units, which I insisted upon. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Luke I suppose), we couldn’t fit all of the shelving units that I wanted so she only has a corner piece and one 30” piece. Plus, she has tons and tons of bars for hanging clothes. Needless to say, this little project didn’t exactly get finished over the weekend. Thank goodness that my Mom arrived today to help put things in order. Maybe I’ll try to take a picture when we’re finished so that you can see the finished work in all of its glory.

On another note, I’m pretty sure that my belly has grown quite a bit since my last trip to the doctor. The only way I can really gauge the growth is by how stretched out my belly button is getting. Let’s just say that it’s gone from being an innie to an outie to a flattie. Yikes.

Hailey Weight Update

I just got back from seeing the midwife, and she says that Hailey is a little small weight-wise (in the 45th percentile). Plus, I'm measuring a little small on the outside. If my belly doesn't grow enough in the next 3 weeks, we have to do another ultrasound to make sure there are no growth problems. I hate when they say crap like that. Now I have to spend the next 3 weeks wondering if she's growing in there or not!!! I'm fine if she doesn't weigh that much (I was only 6lbs 11oz), but why worry me with thoughts of “growth problems” (which, by the way, is too vague a term to even Google).

Ok. In the midwife’s defense, she did say that it’s probably nothing to worry about because Hailey may just be a small baby. But still, she clearly does not understand the epidemic of worrying that runs in my family. I’m probably setting off a worrying chain reaction of seismic proportions just by writing this. So, let’s all calm down because there is nothing that we can do about it but wait until our next appointment on the 21st. Well, nothing except try to eat healthy and measure my own belly every night like some crazy psycho.

Baby Shower and Weight Game

Here are the ultrasound pictures from last Monday.

Luke and I came home to Buffalo this weekend for our family baby shower. It was lots of fun and Hailey received some beautiful clothes and other useful things. We are flying home today. Thank goodness this is my last trip until after Hailey is born. Flying has really become quite a pain in the butt (or gut as the case may be).

Anyway, we've had some requests to have a game for guessing Hailey's weight. So, leave comments with your guess, and I'll summarize them all in a future blog. Then, we'll see who is closest. Don't forget that at 31 weeks, she was 3lbs 11oz so you can figure it out from there. Happy Guessing!

Blog Slacker

Forgive me Blog Friends for I have sinned. It's been 2 weeks since my last post! I can't believe that two weeks have passed. We are at 32 weeks today. We had our last ultrasound on Monday. Of course, I have a few pictures to show off, but I'm waiting for Luke to scan them into the computer. Hailey is looking good. She weighs about 3lbs 11oz now. Luke thinks that she is going to be above 8 lbs, but I'm thinking she'll be in the low 7 lb range. Let's just hope that she doesn't have a giant head like her daddy did when he was born. Anyway, she yawned while we were watching her, and she's already got her head down. She also has one foot sitting right at my ribs on the right side. No wonder she gives me a swift karate kick up there from time to time.

In other exciting development news, Hailey's begun experiencing the hiccups from time to time. That's a really odd feeling. She also has some hair on her head (I can't wait to see what color it is since it's really a crap shoot with us). I think that fingernails and toenails are also there. She's just like a super-miniature person at this point!

Whack-a-mole

We have a new game at our house. Luke and I play it right before we go to bed. Usually when I lay down, Hailey starts kicking over on my right side. The other night we realized that we can actually feel her little feet (or what I think are feet) when they stick out. I'm pretty sure that she was thinking it was a fun game to kick and feel Luke's hand sort of nudge her foot. It seemed like she was playing with us because she kept doing it over and over again for what seemed like forever (from the standpoint of the kickee, that is). She was probably just trying to get comfortable somehow, but it's really fun to think that we are sort of "interacting" with her while she's inside my belly.

Today is the beginning of week 30! Only 12 more days until our next ultrasound!!!

Random Funny

This is our cat, Anubis, trying to catch the fish that are swimming across the computer screen!

New Belly Shots

Take a look at that outy belly button! Yikes! Next week we'll hit the 30 week mark. I can't believe that there will only be 10 weeks left.

Hailey has been very active lately. She's starting to get a schedule going so I know when to anticipate the heaviest kicking. Plus, when she kicks I can feel her little body parts in there if I just press down a little bit. It's really weird. I wish that I knew what I was feeling. I'll probably figure it out as she gets bigger.

In other exciting news, random strangers are now commenting on my pregnancy. So, I guess that I'm finally beyond the point where people are too scared to ask. Making it to almost 30 weeks without openly "showing" is quite an accomplishment I would say, but now it's getting hotter out and I should be garnering a little more sympathy. I can hear it now, "You poor thing. You must be so hot and uncomfortable. Here let me carry those groceries for you." Excellent!

Colors and Themes

Let me begin by saying that the one thing that makes me a little more confident in this whole baby raising endeavor is the fact that we have very supportive family and friends behind us. That's why this blog is a little awkward to write. I hope that no one takes offense because Luke and I will be completely grateful and thrilled with anything that anyone wants to provide for Baby Hailey.

With that said, a few people have asked me for some direction on purchasing things for Hailey and the nursery. In terms of clothes, I'm guessing that we don't need a ton of newborn clothes because it's going to be extremely hot when Hailey arrives so she's probably going to be either naked or swaddled, depending on the temperature of the a/c and how fussy she is. We didn't really register for any clothes because they are all so adorable that part of the fun is going to pick them out!

We've decided on a Winnie the Pooh theme for the nursery. Luke's probably going to paint some characters on the walls for us. We are going to try to keep thinks lavendar and green because neither of us are big pink-lovers. I'll try to take a picture of the nursery as it looks right now so that we can get a before and after comparison.

Big Hailey Development News

According to our favorite book, Hailey's lungs are now capable of breathing air for the first time. I don't think that means that she's would be viable outside of the womb, but it means she's getting close. She also has eyelashes and eyebrows now.

I can't believe that I'm at 27 weeks already. The last 4-5 weeks have just flown by. We have our 28 week checkup on May 1st, and then our 30 week ultrasound coming up after that. It seems like the first 20 weeks were so slow and now time is just flying by!

The New Bed

At long last, we finally have a real bed and a new mattress!!!! It arrived yesterday so last night was our first night in it. As you can see from the picture, the bed is huge! However, we made a slight miscalculation in the height of the mattress. I think that we are going to have to exchange the box springs for low profile ones that should bring the mattress height down about 6 inches. I just think that it looks kind of goofy the way it is. Plus, I have to practically jump to get up there! Other than that very minor issue, the bed is fabulous. I had no back pain last night or in the morning. It's kind of difficult to see just how gigantic the bed is from the picture, but let's just say it's big, big, big. We've finally found something to fit our huge bedroom! Yeah!!!!

Childbirth Class: Episode 1

Last night was the first meeting of our childbirth education class, but don't worry there weren't any birth videos yet. I guess that we start watching the videos next week and every week after that until we are completely desensitized to the whole thing. Sounds like lots of fun.

Anyway, there are about 5-6 couples in the class. We began by going around the room and talking about our ideal births and our fears. The first few people talked about being afraid of the pain and worrying that their baby would be healthy. I have all of those fears too, but I didn't want to just repeat what everyone else was saying so I said that I was afraid that I was going to get hungry during labor and the nurses wouldn't let me eat. Everyone thought that was soooo funny, but I wasn't trying to be funny. This is a real concern!!!! If I'm in labor for 18 hours, I'm going to want a granola bar or something!!!! At least several of the other women in the class said that they completely agreed, after they stopped laughing.

After introductions, we learned about the history of giving birth in an upright posture versus the medical model of lying down. I'm no doctor, but I don't think that it takes an advanced degree to realize that you might as well use gravity to your advantage on this one. I'm sure that we'll be learning all of the fun ways to give birth upright in future classes. We spent the rest of the time this week just learning a breathing technique to help with relaxation during contractions. I'm really interested to see how well I can relax during a contraction. Seems like that will be really really difficult. Oh, well. I just keep telling myself that women have been doing this with midwives and no drugs for thousands and thousands of years. It's the one reassuring thought that I have!

Visit with the Midwife

Tuesday was my 24 week checkup with the midwife. She says that Hailey is doing fine and has a good heartbeat. Unfortunately, Mommy (that'd be me) has put on 9lbs since my last visit 4 weeks ago!! I was so surprised when she said this that I didn't know how to respond. I check my weight at least 3 times a week at home, and I've only put on 5 lbs at the most since I hit the 20 week mark (I'm only supposed to gain 1 lb a week). I really have not been going too crazy with the food...except for the ice cream that I eat almost every night. Why am I putting on so much weight????

Well, I kind of think that a few of the lbs can be explained by the fact that I was wearing a jacket and knee high boots when they weighed me this time. Still, I'm going to turn over a new leaf and try to eat a little healthier. What's crazy is that I'm not eating any worse than I did before I was pregnant. I am, however, eating red meat which I've never done before. I'm going to blame the cows for this because I'm sure that it can't be the ice cream (and even if it were, that would be their fault too)!

Princess and the Pea

Let me start out by saying that I have always been one of the incredibly fortunate few who has never had back problems. Shoulder problem, of course, but that doesn't count. A few months ago I noticed that my back would get really sore from time to time; conveniently enough, this usually occurred after I did any amount of housework. Then, I noticed that it was also sore when I woke up in the morning. It was then that we realized that we were sleeping on a 10 year old mattress (on the floor because we don't have a bed frame). So, my mission this week has been to find a bed frame and mattress. We found a bed frame at Thomasville so that is purchased and on its way (I'll post pictures when it arrives). The mattress is a bit of a more complicated issue. It's so difficult to find one, and it's something that I hate to pay a lot of money for (even though everyone has advised us not to skimp). Why are they so expensive????? I'm determined to find one this weekend so keep your fingers crossed.

In terms of Miss Hailey, she is doing fine. She's decided that it's a fun game to kick my organs now instead of out into my belly where it's kind of cute. So, every once in a while I'll be sitting around and I'll feel a foot or arm or something hit some vital organ. I'm thinking that it's most often my bowel or intestines maybe. Whatever it is, it's something that I don't feel on a regular basis!

The Selfishness before Selflessness

I’m learning an interesting (although dangerous) lesson. Pregnant women are allowed to be a bit selfish about everything from food portions to weekend plans. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I’m unfairly using my “condition” to my advantage. How can I explain this without making it sound like Luke deserves a medal for bravery (although he probably does)? I just find myself taking a little more time (ok…and food) for myself and feeling a little less bad about it. Let me give some examples. I’ve begun going to the chiropractor, and I’m seriously considering monthly or biweekly massages. I’m also suddenly 100% behind the idea of getting a cleaning lady, and I don’t mind napping at 3:00pm on a Sunday. These are all things that I probably would have never considered before because they were always too expensive, too indulgent or just a waste of time. Now that I’m pregnant, my new motto is: I’ll gladly take that 90-minute massage and that bigger bowl of ice cream too.

Maybe it’s not even a matter of selfishness. It’s more an issue of having more needs than ever before and learning not to feel bad about that. I’m just not used to falling asleep on the couch or “needing to sit down.” Sometimes I feel useless or lazy. Look at the pregnant women chasing around 3 kids all day. I know that once Hailey comes along all of my effort and attention will be on her comfort, happiness, and safety. So, I guess that I should just enjoy these last few months of selfishness (or whatever you want to call it) before I give myself over to her every want and need.

New Picture

Here is a picture of the pregnant belly at 22 weeks. As you might expect, Luke deserves the credit for artfully taking and editing this picture. I look like I'm leaning back to emphasize the belly, but I was just trying to stand up straight. I think that says something about either my terrible posture or the size of my butt...no comments from the peanut gallery, please.

Explaining the Pregnant Waddle

If you're like me (and hopefully you're not), you've often found yourself watching pregnant women waddling around the grocery store or the mall or wherever and found yourself wondering, "what is it about a big belly that makes people waddle." You may have also noticed that big, fat men with bellies larger than some pregnant women do not tend to waddle. So, what gives?

Well, now that I've experienced this phenomenon myself, I've decided to shed a little light on the subject. I have discovered that there are at least three reasons for the pregnant waddle. I say "at least" because I'm sure that there are more that I have not experienced because I'm not quite big enough yet. So, here are the ones that I've experienced so far:

1) "I have to pee waddle" - It's no surprise that pregnant women have to pee every five seconds, what with a little person exerting constant pressure on our bladder. Sometimes that feeling becomes so uncomfortable that we try to move our midsection as little as possible. Thus, the "I have to pee waddle."

2) "My stomach muscles are shredded waddle" - As our stomachs expand, there are abdominal muscles in there that are paying a terrible price. I find that those muscles tend to hurt from time to time as Hailey has her little growth spurts. This makes it very uncomfortable for me to use them for anything (including walking).

3) "Back pain waddle" - This waddle has an entirely different cause, but the same overall effect. If you've ever been pregnant and experienced a painful or stiff back, you know exactly what this one is about!

If you have any others, feel free to post them in a comment and I'll add them to my second installment.

Baby Hailey Update

Today is the second day of Week 22. According to my baby book, Hailey's arms and legs are moving with noticeably more force now as the muscles strengthen and the bones become stronger. I'm still not feeling her too regularly, but I've been pretty busy lately so I might not be noticing her. She's also begun sucking her thumb, and her head hair and eyebrows are visible today.

In news of the belly button, it's begun to flatten out completely. I guess that the next step is to become an outy! I'll try to get a picture up this weekend.

KFC and Other Musings

First of all, it's official...I can no longer fit in any of my pre-maternity pants. Up until today, I was able to squeeze myself into one last pair of grey work pants that I owned (don't ask me why I owned them because they were 2 sizes to big on me before I got pregnant), but those days are over. I tried them on this morning, and all of a sudden I couldn't even button them. I just wore them last week!!!! This only confirms what I've been saying for the past few days...Hailey is having a growth spurt. She must be growing because I'm getting all kinds of weird pains coming from her region. I'm not sure if I'm feeling her moving around or simply the wripping of all of my abdominal muscles to shreds. Either way, something's happening.

On a subject that is completely unrelated to the fact that I can no longer fit into my pants, I've been having some serious cravings for Kentucky Fried Chicken over the past few days. I haven't caved in yet because the disgust factor has been more than I can overcome, but it's just a matter of time. They say that you crave what the baby needs nutritionally, so does that mean that Hailey really needs some greasy fried chicken skins?

Official Name Spelling: Hailey Marie Hamilton

After much review and debate, we've decided on Hailey Marie Hamilton.

Hailey's grandmother, step-grandpa, and grandpa are all coming in and out of town over the next 5 days so I apologize if the blog frequency suffers. I'll try to get another belly shot up as soon as it seems worthwhile. The belly is still a little incognito. Now I just look chubby. Oh well, I'll take chubby over uncomfortable any day. By the way, tomorrow will be the first day of my 21st week.

Foot Picture

Isn't this the cutest baby foot that you've ever seen! Just thought I'd share another ultrasound shot. There's also a 16 minute video of the whole experience, but even a proud Mommy thinks that's a little much. In other exciting news, I bought my stroller last night for half off at Burlington's Baby Depot. I saved $50 on it, and it was the exact one that I wanted (highest rated on Consumer Reports, of course). The bargains continue...

Introducing...Haley (or Hailey or Hayley) Marie Hamilton

If you haven't guessed already, it's a girl!!!!

Haley is about 10" long according to the ultrasound. She's got adorable little feet that we could see very clearly. I've got a good picture of that. We also were able to see her heart, brain, spinal cord, kidneys, bladder, arms, and girl parts (of course). She had a heart rate of 138, and she might have been sucking her thumb at one point. I have to admit, it was pretty cool to see her moving around in there. She also seems to like her privacy because she was all curled up in a ball, and she wouldn't let us get a good view of her face. We were, however, able to see her nose and upper lip. She looked perfect to me!

Naked Baby Theory

I've been thinking about the baby's arrival and baby clothes a lot lately. Maybe it's because we find out the sex (hopefully) on Wednesday, and I'm contemplating the evil conspiracy that declared that all girls must wear pink!

Anyway, when the baby arrives, it will be the middle of summer here. For those of you who have never experienced the joy of a Tennessee August, let me tell you that it is HOT! It's the kind of heat that has you running from your air conditioned car into the air conditioned grocery store so that you don't wind up with pit stains from the heat and humidity outside. Now, I'm typically a very cold person, so I can tolerate the heat for longer periods than the average person, but it's not particularly pleasant. That's why I think that the baby will probably spend a lot of it's first few weeks on earth mostly naked (with a diaper, of course). I know that air conditioning is a problem with a naked baby, but I don't like to keep the house too cold. So, I'm thinking that I don't need a lot of newborn clothes because BH will probably grow out of them before it's cool enough to wear them. I've already invested in some newborn onsies, and those will probably be the bulk of my newborn wardrobe. I don't really know if this theory is correct or not. I guess I better ask some people who have had babies in the heat of the summer. In the meantime, it's just something to think about when you get lured into the baby section at Target, as I find I frequently do.

There it is in all of its glory...the belly!!! Ok. It doesn't look like much, but it is at 33". Plus, the belly button is getting all hard and shallow. BH is now 5.5" long and has all of his/her little organs. Today is the first day of Week 19. Apparently, in the next month the baby will grow 2 more inches. Yikes! There will definitely be some serious belly expansion then.

The Underground World of Consignment Shopping

This weekend I discovered the secret holy land of baby crap, the underground paradise of bargain shoppers, the mecca of all used baby things…the consignment sale. A friend of mine, who is expecting her first child in March, first mentioned this amazing institution to me on Saturday. I subsequently had to register online by verifying that I was indeed a first time mother. I’m not sure what would happen if you lied about said motherhood stage, but I’m guessing that you risk being banned from the holy land forever. Luckily for me, I was among the select few who could gain early entrance. After registering, I had my golden ticket, which came in the slightly less exciting form of a black and white printout of an invitation.

Late on Sunday night (and by late I mean 7:00pm because that’s late when you’re busy growing another human) we arrived at this huge, inconspicuous warehouse. Well, it wasn’t as inconspicuous when we drove up and saw the droves of SUVs and minivans, but whatever. I felt like I was going to a secret rave for bargain hunting mommies. The website promised 30,000 sq ft of mint condition used baby supplies, 16 checkout lines, maps of the facility, etc. It warned shoppers to tell husbands and babysitters that they would be out late.

Well, what we found inside was a little less dramatic than what was advertised. For example, 30,000 sq ft might have been the size of the entire space, but about half was completely empty. And, the 16 checkout lines were really just 16 people waiting to count and pull the tags off your crap with only 3 actual computers to do the “checking out.” So, the line took approximately 30 minutes to get through.

Still, you can see from the picture above that I did pretty well for BH on my little shopping extravaganza. Yet, I only spent $79.I even got the exact bouncy seat that I had picked out! I also got a bunch of stuff that I didn't even know I needed, but according to my friend Katie, I definitely have to have. So, there you have it. The whole event was a complete success, except that I was so wired from my bargain hunting that I had a hard time going to sleep and even after I fell asleep, I dreamed of more sales! I'm certainly turning into my mother's daughter.

Buffalo Trip

Thanks for all of the comments on the Name Game. We haven't played in a few days since I went home for my grandfather's surgery.

My grandfather (my mother's father) was diagnosed with bile duct cancer over a month ago. On Monday, he had surgery to remove a golf ball size tumor. I flew up to Buffalo on Saturday and attended the surgery on Monday. It was a very complicated 9 hour surgery that involved removing organs and parts of organs. He did great in the surgery and was only minorly cranky when I saw him the next day (completely understandable if you ask me!). He's since been moved out of the ICU and is terrorizing the nurses on other floors. Today they tried to walk him half way down the hall, and he insisted on walking all the way to the end. Sounds like he's up to his old tricks!

The Name Game

Naming a baby is difficult, stressful work. There are so many factors to consider. Luckily, we've had a girl's name picked out for years. Because of that, I'm pretty sure that BH is going to be a boy, just to cause me as much stress as possible. So, we've begun the name game at our house. It goes a little something like this. Me or Luke, "What about [insert boy's name here]?" The respondent "No, I don't like that because [insert any number of lame excuses here]." This game might begin at any moment and might take place via email, phone or smoke signal. It doesn't really matter how it's played because the result is always the same.

The excuses for why a name isn't right are where the real entertainment and creativity come in. A name might be rejected because it's shared by a famous (not so good) actor, a friend's dog, a serial killer, a cousin twice removed that lives in a different country, etc, etc. Those can be predictable, and we've both learned how to avoid most of those basic name pitfalls. It's the excuses like "I knew a boy named [Nathan in this case] who put gum in my hair in second grade. He was a jerk." Ok. I really liked the name Nathan, and this was vaguely like Luke's excuse for not liking it (I may have embellished slightly). So, let me recap. He doesn't like the name Nathan because he's harboring a grudge against a kid from the second grade!!!! Now, if he had said that he didn't like Nathan Lane, that would almost be more acceptable. Still, Nathan is out.

In Luke's defense, I have had some serious naming missteps. For example, yesterday I came up with a girl's name of "Hiatha." I'm putting that in quotes because after further research, I realized that it's not a real name. I thought it was interesting, but Luke said that it sounded like something that a ninja yells as he's breaking a board with his head. Fair enough. That's a perfectly good excuse for why you don't like my made up name. It's not like I was going to use it or anything! I was just trying to be creative!

In closing, I would like to point out that after weeks of playing the name game we still have no firm boys name. At least we've found a few that we can agree on. Nathan, of course, not being one of them!

Week 17

Today is the first day of Week 17. BH is now approximately 4 5/8" long and weighs less than 5 ounces. I still have no sensation of movement in there, but that should happen in the next few weeks. The baby is now growing toenails, and its head is no longer pointed down towards its chest. In fact, BH can now make some basic facial expressions! 21 days till the ultrasound!!!!

Belly Button Meter

I had (and I stress had) a very deep belly button my whole life. All of a sudden, I've realized that my belly button has become a great gauge for the growth of my baby bulge. Each day it feels just a little more shallow and just a little more firm. I'm guessing that it's slowly turning from an in-y to an out-y. I don't know why I thought that would happen all at once, but it appears to be a slower process. Hopefully, I can get some pictures up soon!

Midwife Appointment Update

I had another appointment with the midwives today. Mom was in town so we both went, and we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat. It was clear, strong, and fast. How exciting!!!! I've been waiting and waiting for today just to hear the heartbeat and get confirmation that everything was okay still. It's weird when you can't feel it moving yet so you just have to go on faith that it's still happy in there. I'm really looking forward to being able to feel it moving (which I should be able to feel in the next 2-4 weeks). Not so much looking forward to the point where the baby starts karate chopping my vital organs in the middle of the night, but a little flutter of movement here or there would be reassuring. We find out the sex on March 1st at 8:30am...only 27 days and counting!

Ode to Stomach Sleeping

I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to sleep on my stomach. I'm guessing that it won't be long. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on my years of comfort as a stomach sleeper. Ahhhh.....comfort!!!! Before you think that I'm crazy (although you've probably come to that conclusion long before now!), it's not just that I occasionally sleep on my stomach. I have slept in the exact same position for as long as I can remember. I didn't change when I went to college. I didn't change when I got married (don't ask Luke because he's always pissed about it). What am I supposed to do now???? I purchased a body pillow so that I might be able to simulate the same position, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the few days that I have left. I suppose that giving up the stomach sleeping is just one of many changes to come. Wish us luck!

Basic Answers

My Aunt Melanie was nice enough to write me a comment on one of my previous entries, and she had some very good questions that I probably should answer. Here are the basics of my pregnancy:

Due date: July 23, 2006

Sex: Not sure yet, but we find out in early March (can't wait!!!)

Weight gain: 8 lbs so far

Cravings: None so far, but sometimes certain foods seem really gross to me.

Luke: I think that Luke is really excited that we are pregnant. He's been on a diet so no real cravings for him. I may have him write a guest blog to share his true feelings and to tell everyone what a pain in the butt I've been!

Mysteries of Pregnancy Theater 3000 - Episode 1

I'm now 15 weeks, and my waist has grown from 29" to 32" during that time. I'm measuring from the belly button. I'm not sure if that is the right thing to do, but it's the only way I could figure out where to measure consistently. So, my waist has grown 3" around at the belly button. Here's where the mystery starts...the baby is only about 3.5" big. To really see that in perspective, you need to look at a ruler. Three and a half inches is not very big. Could I not just fit that 3.5" into the existing space???? I don't need to be growing yet. The good news is that I haven't put on any more weight. That's super good news since I have to go to the midwives next week, and I don't want to get yelled at for gaining more than the 8-10 lbs that I'm allowed in the first 20 weeks!

Buy, Buy, Buy

When we first decided to get pregnant, I knew that there would be quite a few things that we would need to purchase...crib, car seat, diapers, etc. I think of those things as the baby basics. On Saturday, I went to a baby shower for one of my friends. Oh my goodness!!!! She got so many crazy baby things that I had never even thought of...nipple cream, disposable changing pads, wrist rattles, etc, etc. How do I know what is an essential and what's just some crazy baby gimmick. Suddenly, my "to purchase" list has grown exponentially. I guess I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of baby crap that's out there. Have you been down a baby aisle lately??? Yikes! Thank goodness that I have quite a few friends that are having babies right before me so I will be able to gather lots of good advice before BH arrives.

Pregnancy or Menopause???

The strangest thing happened a few minutes ago. It was about 9:45am (time for my daily hot chocolate fix) so I got up from my desk and went to the kitchen to begin my regular ritual. After I put the water in the microwave, I suddenly got really hot and dizzy. I had to sit down for a few minutes. I was so out of it that I nearly dropped the mug of hot water on the floor, simultaneously spilling it all over myself. I think I’m fine now (aside from being a bit wet), but that was a little crazy! If that was a hot flash, then I think that I can do without anymore of those until menopause!

Week 14 Begins

Today is the first day of Week 14!!! Over the next three days, the baby's external sex structures will begin to form. So, if my husband would just buy me the ultrasound machine like Tom Cruise, we could go in there and see if it was a boy or a girl. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until the beginning of March to find out.

Creepy Baby Growth

We are starting to get to the point in the baby's growth process where it's hard to imagine what's going on in there. For example, the vocal cords are forming in the baby's larynx this week. That's not a big deal because it can't make any noise while it's in there. However, the baby now has all 20 of its baby teeth. Okay that's a little weird to think about. It's only 3 inches long, and it has teeth...creepy!

The Irony of Snow in the South

Last Friday night it snowed here overnight. Now, just so we're all on the same page with the consequences of snow in Nashville, let me explain. When they predict snow here, the grocery stores run out of milk and all of the schools close. If you're from up North, you think I'm kidding. I'm not. This means that if it snows on any weeknight, we might very well not have to go to work the next day. Now, with the warm weather lately, we haven't had much snow. So, you can see the travesty of having snow on a Friday night!!!! What kind of an unjust world do we live in. All I'm asking is for a snow day here or there (so that the baby can rest, of course). There's still some winter left to go. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

Oink, Oink Moo, Moo

I have to make a confession...I ate a piece of steak this afternoon for the first time in 11 years. Sorry cows. I wasn't really planning on it, but we went to Publix at lunchtime before I had eaten anything. As you might imagine, I was really hungry. Then, my heightened sense of smell (I call it the dog nose) detected something on the grill in the meat department. I asked the friendly butcher what he was cooking, and he offered us some steak. It smelled and looked sooooo good. It had all this crazy, yummy seasoning around the edges, and it was so perfectly pink in the middle. So, I caved and ate it. I can't help it, the baby wanted it. The baby also wanted the pork chops that I ate last week. I knew that I might have to eat meat when I was pregnant, but I'm pretty sure that the taste for it will disappear in 7 months when this is all over!!!

In baby news, BH (that's Baby Hamilton for future reference) is now 2.5 inches long and weighs 1/2 of an ounce. Apparently, in the next two weeks, the baby's kidneys will start to excrete urine right into the amniotic fluid. Yuck!

Please Leave Comments

I was beginning to feel like a loser because I'm only getting comments from my Dad, and while I completely appreciate his thoughtful comments, I would certainly like to hear from others. I just now realized (thanks to my brilliant husband) that I was only allowing comments from registered users. I don't want everyone to have to sign up just to leave comments, so I've changed it so that you can leave a comment anonymously without registering. If you want to get brownie points for leaving it, just type your name at the end so that I know who you are. I'd love to hear from you so please drop me a comment. Thanks!

Let the 2nd Trimester Begin!

Everyone has told me that the second trimester is the best! Your nausea stops, you're less tired, and you're not huge yet. I've really been looking forward to it, and on Wednesday, I finally got there - thirteen weeks..yippeee! The most exciting part is that I'm now capable of being hungry without being nauseous. What an accomplishment! Of course, now I have heartburn after I eat. I'm not sure which is worse. Still, I've stopped eating every twenty minutes so I've lost 1.5 lbs in the past few days. I better start hitting the ice cream treats!

Nurturing the Artistic Side

I've decided to take another painting class during my pregnancy. Although laying on the couch every evening and whining about how tired I am is fairly fulfilling, dedicating one night a week to painting shouldn't be too much to ask. If I paint anything exciting, I'll post a picture of it, but chances are it will end up hiding under the couch with my other disasters. Tonight is the first class so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

The Bella Belt and Baby News

Yesterday I purchased the Bella Belt. As I mentioned in my last post, it is supposed to hold your pants up and disguise the fact that you have them unbuttoned. Well, it works. It looks just like a tube top, but you pull it over the top of your pants to cover the button situation. Plus, if you have maternity clothes that are too big, it will also help to hold those up. It's still not as comfortable as wearing a muumuu all the time, but a cool invention nonetheless!

This week in development news, the baby's brain has the same structure it will have at birth (but a bit smaller). He/she has been growing fingernails for the past few days, and the thyroid, pancreas, and gall bladder have all completed their development. In mommy development news, I've finally had to give in and go up a bra size...yikes!

The Big Visit

Yesterday was our first official visit to the midwives at Vanderbilt. Our primary midwife is named Shelly, although she may not be the one to deliver me. It will just depend on the timing. During the visit, we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time which was extremely exciting. Everything seems to be going very well, including the weight gain. I don't have to go back again until February.

I would have written about it yesterday, but we were busy watching the Rose Bowl and contemplating whether Vince Young will someday be a Tennessee Titan. With the third pick in the draft, it's certainly a possibility.

In other exciting news, our neighbors that we share the backyard with are also pregnant. She's about a month ahead of me, and she had the most fabulous suggestion to deal with my lack of maternity pants... a funky maternity belt. It's not really a belt, but more like a big piece of fabric that will cover my unbuttoned pants. It completely solves the problem. I can't remember the name of it, but she told me where to buy it. How exciting!!

From Size 2 to 6 in Just 12 Weeks!

My concern over my maternity clothes (or lack thereof) has been growing over the past few weeks. I know that it is completely inevitable that I will eventually have to make that all important first maternity clothes purchase, but I'm all about procrastinating on that type of major life/size change. Besides, I can still squeeze myself into my old pants with one little alteration...I have to unbutton them when I sit down. In the car, at work, in front of the tv, it doesn't matter. It's just more comfortable with them unbuttoned. So I forget to button them every once and a while when I stand up. So I went into Walgreens yesterday with my jeans unbuttoned. What's the big deal???

Well, yesterday Luke decided that he needed to put a stop to this madness. "It's time to get pants that fit," he said. I was at least hoping to make it to 13 weeks in the same jeans, but I was willing to go take a look at the maternity options. So, off we go to Target for our first maternity clothes shopping extravaganza.

My first thought is...what's with all of the elastic on this maternity stuff. All the pants are too big because of all that damn elastic, and let's not even get into those big belly holder things. I'm definitely not ready for that craziness! Yikes! This is so scary! Needlesstosay, I'm still maternity pantsless, but I'll let you know when I make the first big purchase. For now, it's back to the unbuttoning plan.

Indian Summer

It's the 2nd day of January, and it's 70 degree's in Nashville today. Nothing like a little indian summer to really make you crave the spring time. It was nice to get a few outside chores done, but come on...it's January. Later this week it's supposed to "flurry" so I guess I'm not going to complain. However, I should explain that when they predict snow in Nashville, all of the schools close and they run out of milk at the grocery stores. That little tidbit may become important as winter continues. We'll just have to wait and see.

Speaking of winter, there are only 39 days until the winter Olympics. I'm hoping that I can convince my midwife to put me on bed rest for a few weeks so that I can truly enjoy the spectacle. I'll have to ask her during my next appointment (which is only 2 days away!).

When Two Inches Matter

I'm 11 weeks pregnant now, and the baby books says that my fetus is approximately 2 inches long. Yes, 2 inches. It seems so insignificant, and yet my body has spent the last nine weeks growing and nurturing this tiny little thing! Just a few weeks ago, at our first ultrasound, it was only 2 cm long. Oh, they grow so fast...sniffle, sniffle, tear, tear.

So, this is my first blog. I suppose that I'll use it to update family and friends on baby status and such. Plus, I may muse on some other random interests from time to time. I haven't had a creative outlet to write in quite a while, but I'll try to keep it short and manageable. I'll also try to include some belly shots as I start to widen. That should keep it interesting. For the readers' sake, I'll try not to whine too much about nausea, exhaustion, and thickening thighs. Although, there's certainly plenty to say about the joys of pregnancy thus far!