Questions of the week

Because I am bored, here are the "Questions of the Week" that were posted on my "October Mom's" board on Thebump.com this morning.

1. What do you most look forward to in parenthood? What scares you the most? Aside from putting her in the cutest outfits everyday (hehe), I am looking forward to all of her milestones and watching her grow up.
I am most scared of anything happening to her and how we will raise her to be a smart, independent woman. Chris and I couldn't have been raised any differently, so I am scared of how we will mesh our two ideas of raising children. We talk about it all the time, but actually doing it is a whole other animal.
2. When is your baby most active? She is active pretty much all day, but then she is wild and crazy when I lay down to go to sleep. Chris laid with his chin on my belly last night and just watched her jump around. It was pretty amazing.
3. If you could PICK your when your baby came (as in the date), what day would you want it to be and why? Would it be your actual due date? Earlier? Later?
I keep thinking that September 27th is THE day...it is just a number that came to me one day. I would like for her to come before her due date, but not too soon, 2 weeks at the earliest. Although, if she did come on 10.10.10, that would be an awesome birthday =).

7 Months Pregnant!

Today is 28 weeks, only 12 more to go! When I sent my mom this picture this morning, her response was "ohoooo!". Thanks Mom =/. Even Chris said "Whoa babe, I dont think you are going to make it 9 months!" the other day while I was changing. WELL people, let me tell you that the jeans I have on today are a size 6! So, there! Yes, they are maternity jeans, but still. That is why I love Target maternity clothes, they put your pre-pregnancy size on the tag =). A woman clearly thought of that...haha.

We got the dresser put together this week and quickly realized that it is MUCH bigger than we thought, so we had to move the bookshelf out. Chris has decided that he wants to build a small bookshelf that will double as a changing table because he thinks I am too short to use the dresser to change her on...haha. I think it's cute and I love that he wants to build something for her. Here is the inspiration piece.

On that note, I would like to talk about cute, sweet things Chris has said or done since I've been pregnant. Before I got pregnant, he was dead set on not finding out the sex of the baby. BUT when I scheduled our first prenatal appointment and asked if he wanted to go his response was "are they going to tell us the sex??!"...haha. He was a little disappointed to find out that we would have to wait about 4 months for that.
At around 12 weeks, the Dr. told us that I shouldn't be sleeping on my back anymore, so several times over the course of the next few months, he would wake me up in the middle of the night to inform me that I was on my back =). One time I woke up to him leaned over me patting my belly in his sleep! It was so cute! Other things that make my day:

• He always refers to the nursery as "Savannah's room"
• He wakes me up and asks "How are my girls doing this morning?"
• He picked out the majority of our registry items
• He always makes sure I am eating enough and makes me "take 2 more bites" when I am full.
• He calls me "Mama"

If you know Chris in real life, you are to NEVER mention this post to him....haha.

3rd Trimester Already??

Where has the time gone?? I can't believe I am so close to baby S's arrival! Wow....I have ALOT to do (er...buy)! We did put the crib together this weekend and the floors are in, so the nursery is basically done other than putting the dresser together and decorating! Chris's mom already made my valance that I wanted, so now I just need curtain rods for that! Actually, now that I think about it, we really dont have THAT much to do. I already scheduled our baby classes for the end of this month, I pre-registered at the hospital, I have my maternity/newborn photographer booked, all the nursery furniture is purchased, she has a place to sleep and my boobs are still there, so she has food. We already registered (well I still have one more place to register at), we have some clothes for her....so if she were to come this week (please dont!) then I guess we have everything we need. Well, except a carseat, but if she came this week, she wont be riding in a car for a while. Ok, whew, panic over.

So, I passed my glucose test, BUT I am anemic, so I have to take an extra iron pill and make sure to eat more red meat and leafy green veggies. Meat is one of my biggest aversions while pregnant, so this might be hard....veggies, I can eat all day.

My highlight of the week has been that since I bought this wonderful invention, my back doesn't hurt while at work!! Why didn't someone tell me about this before?

This is my last week at the chirpractor and while I am still tight, I am much looser than when I started, so it is working!

Here is my 27 week/3rd Trimester pic that I took yesterday. I can't imagine my belly getting any bigger....I am a little scared.

We have floors!!!!!

OMG, what a weekend! We spent the ENTIRE 4th of July weekend working on these floors and we are EXHAUSTED! I love love love them and I can't wait to have the whole nursery together!! I did assemble the crib, so here are a few pics =).

The DREADED glucose test....

Even before I was pregnant, I have heard horror stories about this test. I have heard things like how you can't eat FOR SO LONG before the test and how you have to drink this awful concoction of cough syrup mixed with sweat from the inner thigh of a hairy homeless man with a dash of tiger's blood. I've been told that within the first sip, I might keel over and die and if I don't, I will for sure burp a thousand times and then throw up immediately. I was fully expecting my heart to burst into flames upon finishing and having to be rushed to the ER in a sugar coma. So, when the sweet little nurse brought me my white plastic cup full to the rim of orange, sugary juice and told me I had 2 minutes to drink it, I was scrrrd. So.....I closed my eyes, took a giant gulp and waited for all hell to break loose....UM....NOT EVEN! The stuff was GOOOOD....like put-a-little-ice-and-vodka-in-it-sit-by-the-pool-and-drink-all-day GOOOD! I gulped it down in far less than 2 minutes and never even had so much as a burp come out! I had an hour to wait for all this horror to start and all I got was baby S Lady Gaga-ing it up in my belly for an hour. She is SO going to be a dancer like her mama.

This just goes to show that pregnant women are either crazy drama queens or just like to scare those of us who have yet to experience all these crazy things...

While waiting for my hour to go by, I had my regular dr. appointment and all was good! Blood pressure is normal, baby hearbeat is good, belly measures on target, gained 2lbs this month for a total of 8lbs. Now, just keep your fingers crossed that we passed that glucose test so I can continue to eat shaved ice with extra cream ALL SUMMER LONG.....mmmmmm

25 Weeks Going on 40...

Today I feel like a walrus. No, more like a penguin....or maybe a cross between the two....a walguin. It doesn't help when people make comments that I would never DREAM of saying to a pregnant woman...even if her belly drug the ground when she walked. Things like "that baby is going to be HUGE!" or "it looks like that baby is going to come WAY before October!" or "are you having twins?"....REALLY people??

So, after stressing about it and asking people for their honest opinion, I have decided that since I am VERY short-waisted (thanks mom) I am sticking out more than someone who is taller with a longer torso...makes sense. I still have only gained 6lbs total, so it's not like I am overeating (which I already knew...I can still barely eat) and I work out at least 3 times a week. I hate that I have to justify my huge belly...I am PREGNANT! It happens...I am growing a human in there! Rant over.

Aside from that, I am still having back issues and am going 3 times a week to the chiropractor to get worked on. She has decided that my EXTREMEMLY tight glutes are to blame for my low back pain and my running habit (er lack of streching after a long run habit) is to blame for the tight glutes. She comments every time how she has never seen someone so tight....great. I have been a total of 5 times in 2 weeks already and they torture me every time, BUT I think I am starting to feel better....not 100% or even 50%, but a good 10% better. I have a long way to go and I am ok with it, as long as I am not miserable.

Here I am today, Cori the Walguin.

Something to think about...

The question of the day on thebump.com is:
Do you have plans for family to come visit after the baby is born? Will they come to the hospital? To your house? What sort of "rules" will you set up for visitors?
I was amazed at how many people did not want visitors! Of course I want visitors! I want to show off this amazing creature that I have been growing in my belly for so long!
Now, as far as who will be there while I am in labor, I really thing I just want Chris there. In my head, I am imagining myself listening to my already prepared playlist on my ipod, trying to relax and have the room as quiet/peaceful as possible. This may be a fantasy, but it is my hope for it to be this way.
Rules??? Some people had rules like "If they come to my house, they have to do 1 load of laundry and cook 1 meal"....well, as nice as that would be, I would never demand that any family/friends do this in order to visit us!! RUDE. I won't have rules. Come visit, stay as long as you want, but when it's time for me to sleep, you will have to entertain yourself =).
After I wrote this post, I decided to create my birth plan (yes, I am extremely bored at work). Here is what I have come up with so far, with the help of the bump.com's birth plan checklist:

1. My delivery is planned as vaginal
2. I'd like Chris ONLY present before and/or during labor
3. During labor, I'd like music played (I will provide), the lights dimmed, the room as quiet as possible, as few interuptions as possible, hospital staff to be limited to my own doctor and nurses (no students, residents or interns), Chris to take video and/or pictures, to stay hydrated with water and ice chips.
4. I'd like to spend the first stage of labor walking around (if possible).
5. I'm not interested in an enema, shaving of my pubic area, a catheter, or an IV (unless I am dehydrated).
6. I'd like fetal monitoring to be continuous.
7. I'd like labor augmentation preformed only if baby is in distress.
8. For pain relief, I'd like to use breathing techniques and message before getting a standard epidural (only when pain is too much to handle).
9. For delivery, I would like to use foot petals for support.
10. As the baby is being delivered, I would like to push without time limits (as long as baby and I are not at risk), avoid forceps usage, avoid vaccum extraction, and help catch the baby.
11. I do not want an episiotomy.
12. Immediately after delivery, I would like Chris to cut the umbilical cord and to either bank the cord blood or donate it (we still haven't made a decision about this). I would like to deliver the placenta spontaneously and without assistance.
13. If a C-section is necessary, I would like to make sure ALL other options have been exhausted, to stay concious, for Chris to be with me at all times, and for Chris to be able to hold the baby as soon as possible.
14. I would like to hold the baby immediately after delivery.
15. I would like to breastfeed as soon as possible after delivery.
16. I would like family and friends to have unlimited visiting after delivery (and after I am cleaned up).
17. I'd like the baby's medical exam and procedures given in my presence.
18. Please don't give baby sugar water or formula.
19. I'd like to feed the baby only with breastmilk and with the help of a lactation specialist.
20. I'd like baby's first bath given by me.
21. I'd like baby to stay in my room all of the time.
22. I'd like Chris to have unlimited visiting and to sleep in my room.
23. If we have a boy, circumcision should be performed.
24. As needed post-delivery, please give me extra-stregth acetaminophen.
25. After birth, I would like to stay in the hospital as briefly as possible.
26. If baby is not well, I would like Chris and I to accompany her to the NICU or other facility, to breastfeed or provide pumped breastmilk and to hold her whenever possible.