Week 34/ Ice-mageddon/ We have a middle name!

Greetings and salutations!

I’m so ready to move back to California…lol!  I’m definitely not a cold-weather girl (which is why you won’t see me out skiing), and this cold weather here has been crazy!  Last week it was the snow; this past week was the ice! We had an ice storm come through Friday, and with our below freezing temperatures, stayed with us through most of the day yesterday.  Thankfully, I was able to work from home Friday so I didn’t have to get out in it.  John had to go in, but thankfully his work closed early so he could come home before the afternoon rush.  Temperatures have gotten back up above freezing (will be near 70 on Tuesday!) before the freeze comes again on Friday, accompanied by, yes, more snow.  Sheesh!

We had our breast feeding class this past Monday.  Only 2 dudes in the class, John being one of them, lol!  We got a lot of great information out of the class, and I’m glad John will be there to support me when the time comes.

Let’s see…I’ve also been a bit under the weather this past week :(  Stinks when you’re preggo and are very limited to meds.  It’s been mostly a sinus-thing.  Thank goodness for Ellen!  She came over for our doula appointment on Wednesday, and was able to drain out my sinuses.  I felt so much better Thursday!  Still have a little bit lingering, but am feeling so much better!

Update on the baby-middle-name drama…it has been chosen!  There was still a little back-and-forth for a while there, but we fist-bumped on it this morning in church, so it has to be official.  Especially since now it’ll be on Facebook :)  Dean’s middle name is Matthew.  Dean Matthew Martin!  Yay!  So glad to have that decided lol!

On to the update!

Size:  Cantaloupe! (Mmmm...really wish cantaloupes were in season right now).  Dean weighs about 4.75 pounds and is almost 18 inches long.

Physical Features:  Fat layers are filling him out, making Dean rounder.  His skin is also smoother than ever.  His central nervous system is maturing, and Dean’s lungs are continuing to mature as well.

How I’m Feeling:  For the sake of being repetitive, from here on out let’s just assume I’m tired :)  That’s one second trimester item I was really wishing I had gotten back, yet never did.  Anyway, other than that still feeling pretty great overall!  Feet are a little swollen by the end of the day, so I'll be resting as I can once I get home from work.

What I’m Thankful For:  Dean’s stretches.  Laying down the other night he stretched like he never had before, causing me to yelp!  John didn't know what was happening; thought maybe labor was starting, lol!  But I love all of Dean’s movements, as a reminder he’s doing well in there.  But he needs to stay there for 6 more weeks!

Appointments and Upcoming Events:  Another doctor’s appointment on Wednesday.  And a baby shower on Saturday! :D  I’m so excited; it’s going to be a great week!!!

The bump pic!

There he is, in all his glory.  Tossing and turning at night is proving to get a bit challenging, but doesn't seem to be bothering John too much :)

Have a great week everyone!

Week 33/ Snowmageddon 2013/ We're Getting There!

Hi!

I don't like snow.  Which doesn't fare well when living in this part of the south.  It's not nearly as bad as further north (or more in the mountains), but still.  Don't like snow.  Well, I take that back.  As long as I am home and don't have to go anywhere, and as long as John can be home, then I don't mind it too much.  Anyway, we have experienced our first (pray only) Snowmageddon 2013.

I'll explain my disdain for snow: It started with Snowmageddon 2009.  At the time I worked in Greeneville, and Becky and I carpooled on that fateful Friday in December.  Thankfully, she drove that day.  I say that because she grew up in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, so she did a great job of driving in the snow (would you want a Cali girl driving in the snow?  I didn't think so).  Anyway, about 3pm the heavy, wet snow started.  We got a late start leaving work, but still left well before 5.  We made it to JC so I could get my car, and even to this day we wonder if I should have just gone on home with her.  But I got in my car and started my trek home.  It was terrifying!  Crazy people everywhere!  Snow!  Ice!  What normally was a 45 minute commute took me 3.5 hours.  Three and a half hours!!!  I can't remember the last time I had been so scared.  And even in the 3.5 hours, I still didn't make it all the way home.  Had to ditch the car at the bottom of the hill and walk the rest of the way.  Just awful.  I swore I would never, ever get caught up in snow like that again.

Then came Snowmageddon 2013.  It rained all last week.  Even flooded areas around here.  Rained up until Thursday.  Thursday afternoon around 1:30, that is.  That's when the rain changed over to big, fat, heavy, wet snow.  Flashbacks of Snowmageddon 2009 stung at me.  No way was I getting caught in that again!  I had an appointment until 3, but right at 3 I left campus.  My director, bless him, drove me home.  There were moments of that drive I'd rather forget (almost not getting up the hill!), but he got me as close to the house as possible so that he could go on home.  Still had to walk, but not nearly as far as before.  Still, can you picture a pregnant woman, in her big red coat, walking in the snow?  I'm sure it was a sight to see :)  This trip, walk and all, took just 1.5 hours.  Much, much better than before.  

The worst part was that, as before, phone lines were jammed.  Could only communicate via text message; phone calls wouldn't go out/come in.  John was able to get through one time, to tell me he was doing fine and that the tires on the Maxima were AWESOME (Michelin tires, people!).  He got home about 20 minutes after me, after ditching the car at the bottom of the hill (oh, the memories :) and walking the rest of the way.  This will tell you how much it snowed: I got home only 20 minutes before he did.  He didn't even see my footprints in the snow when he walked up to the condo.  That's how much it was snowing.

So, you see, I'm not a fan of snow.  If snow had a Facebook page, I would not "like" it.

Gizmo, on the other hand, loves snow!  Here are some pics of him playing:

My snow puppy! 

Running to daddy! 

Eating some snow 

Loves to run in the snow!

He's such a good boy! :D

Let's talk about Dean :D

Dean's bed is ready!  

And his furniture is up!  

We also went out today and got his travel system.  So we can bring him home from the hospital, he has a place to sleep, he can eat, has some clothes to wear, and has diapers/wipes.  I'm feeling so much better about having everything I want ready for his arrival.  Still have some minor things to go, but most of the big stuff is done!  Hooray!!!

Let's see what Dean is up to this week!

Size:  Pineapple baby! (sounds yummy!)  Dean weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17 in mark.

Physical Features:  Dean's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look :)  His skeleton overall is hardening.  The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap.  This will make it easier for him to fit through the birth canal.  These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood anyway, so they can grow as Dean's brain and other tissues expand during infancy and childhood.

How I'm Feeling:  Not gonna lie, I've felt some pain this past week.  Really since Thursday, so I'm lead to believe it's from the stress of the snow.  After John got home and I was finally able to relax, I started feeling pain all over my body.  Today I'm feeling so much better, and paying very close attention to what my body is telling me.  I'm sure John's going to love having more responsibilities over the next 7 weeks :)

What I'm Thankful For: I'm thankful for getting home safely on Thursday, and that my director who brought me from Bristol was able to make it home safely as well.  And I'm grateful to have everything we do so far for Dean.  As I mentioned before, I feel so much better about his arrival.

Appointments and Upcoming Events:  We toured the hospital this past week, which was pretty cool.  It's a big room!  Next appointment is a week from Wednesday.  Tomorrow I'm taking a breast-feeding class, which I'm pretty excited about.

Let's see what I look like this week!

Look at him sticking out there!  We went over to my parent's house today for a bit, and first thing my dad says is "Look how much he's grown!"  Indeed, he has :)  I'm getting to the point whenever I lay on my side I need to wedge a pillow, otherwise his weight pulls me over!

Have a great week!

Week 32/ Baby Shower/ Getting ready!

Hello!

Wow, the last few days have been absolutely incredible!!!  First up, Saturday was set to be Furniture Assembly Day for John and I to get all the furniture ready.  Well, John forgot he had to do something for the church, and he wasn't going to be able to help.  So instead of having John's help, a couple of my friends (tools in hand!) came over and finished getting all the furniture together for us.  And it all looks great!  I'll post pictures soon.  Thank you again Stephanie and Jen for taking time out of your Saturday to help!

Then, I had my first baby shower yesterday!!!  I again want to thank April, Leah, and my mom for organizing and hostess-ing the event.  I had a blast!  And am so grateful for all the work you all put into it (you just don't know how much).  Plus, they got a Hannah Cake!  Hannah Cake is cake from The Cake Gallery (shameless plug!)  Her cakes are amazing, and are such a treat.  Thank you all for my adorable cake, and decorations, and yummy food, and...well...everything!  You guys are awesome!  And I felt incredibly blessed by all the gifts that were given for Dean by everyone who was able to come.  Thank you all so much for coming and being a part of this awesome day!  I was so happy to bring everything home to show John.  Hmmm...let me re-phrase...I was so happy for Nick to bring everything home in his truck so that I could show everything to John. :)  John was so happy going through all the gifts, I got a kick out of watching him go through everything.

One would think that would be enough greatness for one weekend...but no!  The awesome-ness poured over into today!  Krista came over today to help organize, clean, and wash all of Dean's new clothes and bedding!  Carrie got to come over as well and watched the little ones.  It would have taken me so long by myself to get everything cleaned and organized (and I hadn't even thought about clearing out a place in the kitchen for Dean's bottles and stuff!), and I am so grateful for them coming over to help. :D

So, the last few days have been absolutely amazing.  I've had so much fun getting to put my focus into preparing for Dean's arrival, especially since we're roughly 8 weeks away from his arrival.  And I'm feeling much better about having everything as ready and prepared as it can be for when Dean comes.  I know John's happy about that too, lol!

Updates!

Size:  Large jicama!  Dean weighing around 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long.

Physical Features:  Dean now has toenails, fingernails (fingernails!), and real hair.  The skin on his body is becoming soft and smooth and he plumps up in preparation for birth.

How I'm Feeling:  Still great!  Still tired :)  Have had a few body aches here and there, and what I believe have been some Braxton Hicks contractions, but those are very infrequent.

What I'm Thankful For:  All the people God has put in our lives.  Re: above.

Appointments and Upcoming Events:  Wednesday is my next doctor's appointment.  We'll also get to tour the hospital, which I'm really excited about.  Things are getting real!

The Bump Pic!

This was post-baby shower.  Had so much fun I wore myself out, lol!  And some of that bump may be from Hannah cake ;)

I'll try to post some pics from the shower, as well as the nursery, for next week's post.  Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Week 31/ Road Trip/ It's Getting Real!

Happy 2013 readers!

Hope that everyone had a safe a fun New Year's!  Our newly engaged friends Alison and Ryan (congrats again guys!) had a shin-dig at their place.  And I made it to midnight!  I'm just as surprised as you, lol!  We had a great time catching up with friends, eating (of course), and counting down to the New Year.  I can tell I'm getting old though: I used to think it'd be so awesome to be in Times Square for New Year's Eve.  Maybe it's because I wasn't a big fan of Times Square when John and I visited NYC this past summer, but now when I watch all those people, all I can think is, I bet they have to go to the bathroom so bad!  Yep, I'm getting old.

But not too old :)  This past weekend I traveled down to Georgia with 2 friends of mine to visit a friend of ours going to chiropractic college.  We (the 4 of us) all use to work together years ago, and how wonderful it is to still be such great friends after all this time!  It was awesome getting to travel, visit, eat great food (I'm talking Indian, Ethiopian, everything yummy John won't eat with me :) ) and dance!  Yes, Dean had his first salsa dancing lesson.  He loved it!  I even got to see my cousin this weekend.  It just so happened that this past weekend she was working in the city right next to where I was, so she got to meet up with us.  The last time I got to see Liz was in August, and before that...19.5 years.  We had a lot to catch up on :)  So, a great weekend in the books.

It also really hit me this weekend that Dean's arrival is a mere 2 months away.  Two months.  It's about to get real, people!  And I don't feel anywhere near ready!  I even asked John tonight if we could move the couch back 6 inches, just because I think it'd look better.  Yes, I'm on the edge of a bit of a freak-out.  Thankfully my co-workers think I'm handling it well.  At least I appear to be holding it together at work :)  After this weekend all the furniture we purchased will be set up (it will be, it will be!), and I'm sure I'll feel better and have it more together.

We've also been searching for a daycare for Dean.  As someone who recruits and gives campus tours for a living, it's fun seeing it "from the other side."  Being the one doing the searching as opposed from the one helping with the search process.  It's going very well.  The 2 centers I've been to have seemed really good.  Still have a couple more to visit before making a decision, but I'm feeling really good about our options.

Baby name drama update:  We're still at a stand-still.  It's down to a couple of names (at least we've narrowed down!) but now it's Decision-Time.  And for those that know my darling of a husband, this part could take a while, lol!  Bless him :)

On to the update!

Size:  Lettuce baby! (dark, leafy green lettuce :) ) Dean measures around 18 inches long and about 3.2 pounds in weight.

Physical Features:  Dean can move his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin.

What I'm Thankful For:  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm in love with Dean and his movements.  They've gotten so much stronger!  And I take comfort in his health knowing how strong he's getting.  Sometimes when he moves it's so strong it knocks me a little off-balance, lol!  We still play our games, where we take turns poking each other.  It's so much fun!

How I'm Feeling:  Awesome!  Tired, but that's normal.  Glad that Dean sleeps with me through the night.  I pray it stays that way (and don't try to tell me different, please.  Let me have my dreams :) )

Appointments and Upcoming Events:  Next doctor appointment is a week from Wednesday.  John and I will also be touring the hospital (finally!).  I'm happy about touring the hospital.  I think that'll help me feel better about everything as well.  This weekend is also my first baby shower! (see, another reason why Dean's room needs to be ready...I'll have stuff to put in it!)

Bump Pic time!

Can I also say that I am digging my awesome pregnancy hair!?!  It's gotten longer, fuller, and always looks so clean!  Love it!

Have an incredible week!