I spent a lot of time researching items I thought I would need when I became a mom. I looked at tons of sample registries, and most importantly I asked lots of moms. Its so hard to know what you will actually need and use until you are a mom. Even then, some of the things that worked for other families may not work for yours. But I learned a few things, and thought I would share!
I registered at Babies R Us (BRU) and Walmart. BRU because it has such a huge selection of baby items, and Walmart because it was closer to our house and you can get pretty much anything there. So I'm gonna break it down by store, and then I'll talk about some products!
Babies R Us
Like I said, huge selection which is a great plus. They are used to dealing with pregnant women, and have a sample registry list to look at, and they give you a gift bag when you register that has samples and coupons! You should definitely sign up for the rewards program, you get points for every dollar you spend (including gift cards) and then you get rewards dollars! They send the rewards to your email so you can use them in store or online. They also have an "Endless Earnings" program. Honestly I don't know how I got signed up for it and what the details are but about 2 months after Jackson was born I got an email with a gift card code for over $200! I think all moms seriously love free money to spend on their kids! The only complaint I have about BRU is that I have gotten several incorrect or damaged items in my shipments. And when the closest store is 1 1/2 hours away thats a big deal!
Walmart
So Walmart is not my favorite store but we live in the middle of nowhere and that's what is close. I would suggest registering at Walmart or Target or even Amazon, stores where you can get more than just baby stuff. Getting gift cards to these kinds of places are fantastic because during a hectic, expensive time of your life its really nice to be able to buy or order whatever random item you need to make your life a little easier.
Things you should definitely register for!
-The Fisher Price Rock and Play Vibrating Napper. Jackson loves it and so does mommy! Its lightweight and easy to move, its super comfy for baby and convenient for mom. Jackson is still sleeping in his, its great for babies with reflux because of the angled back that keeps their heads elevated.
-A play mat. Which ever one you like! It's a safe easy place to put your little one down where they can play and move around. Ours plays music and has lights and things that hang down that Jack can kick and hit and look at.
- A Humidifier. Especially if you live in a dry climate or have a winter baby. It keeps their sinuses nice and moist at night so they don't get stuffy noses.
-A good stroller. I love our jogging stroller, it has the bicycle type tires and it is so easy to push around. Unfortunately it is also pretty heavy and kind of a pain to get in and out of the car. (make sure you mess with it at the store first)
-Baby Carrier. When you don't want to deal with the car seat and stroller or you just need your hands while you're holding your kid. There are tons, we have the Bjorn, which honestly isn't my favorite. I wish I had been able to actually try the different carriers with a kid before I bought one.
Things to skip
-Diaper Genie. Its expensive, and big and you have to buy special bags to refill it and you have poop sitting around forever, and its only in one room. We just use plastic grocery bags, we have a million of them, they hold enough diapers and you can tie them up to block the smell, and they are free! We hang them on a hook at the end of the changing station and take them out every day or so to make sure the nursery doesn't start to smell.
-Wipe Warmer. This is just silly. Your baby's bottom can handle a room temperature wipe.
-Fancy Bath Tub. They are too big and bulky, and really you can tell if the water is too hot without a bath tub telling you it is.
Other Tips
Don't forget about you! Which I pretty much did, until the last minute, and thank god for friends that had just had kids and knew what I needed! Nursing pads (I like the reusable ones, they're softer) nipple cream, breast pump, storage bags, comfortable bras.
I'm sure there are a ton of other things I have an opinion about, but that is plenty for now!
family picture
Friday, March 20, 2015
Monday, March 9, 2015
Identity Crisis
It's been almost three months since we brought our little bundle of joy home and became a family of three. I'm finally coming out of the fog of becoming a mom for the first time. I can finally think of something other than feedings and diapers. I can finally start to be myself again, whoever that is. Its so easy to kind of forget about yourself when you're pregnant, because everything is about the baby. I have always believed that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. A philosophy I obviously followed while pregnant because taking care of myself was taking care of my baby. But once that little one arrived, I definitely became somewhat of an afterthought. So now its time to redirect and balance my focus. And that ever controversial quest of "losing the baby weight" and "getting my body back" is at the forefront of this journey.
My goal is not to reach a certain number on a scale, I've never been one to weigh myself obsessively (although that changed during pregnancy). Instead my goal is to be healthy, to be fit, to be strong and energetic, so that I can be the best mom for my little guy. And if all being those things makes the number on the scale drop and make me look better in a bathing suit for our upcoming vacation, well then isn't that nice. After being a second class citizen to myself I think I deserve the right to try and feel good about myself.
The other part of journey to the new me is learning how to be a mom without letting that become the only thing that defines me. I'm still an individual, and a wife, and a friend, but how do I continue to be all of those things when mostly I just feel like a mom. Moving to the desert and quitting my job was definitely an adjustment for me, and Jackson has definitely filled my days right back up. Now i'm trying to figure out how to be a full time mom while still finding time for myself. I struggle with being able to come out of "mommy mode" and be who I was before. My sweet husband has been so wonderful and patient with me over the last few months. He checks in to make my head is on straight, that i'm not sinking into an abyss of breast milk and tummy time, and he gives me a break when he can. We are working on redefining our relationship as parents and a couple, because no matter what I thought before, having a child changes your marriage, in wonderful and strange and scary ways. I'm also in a situation where I am making new friends, which happens with each new duty station and job and phase of life. The hard part is, how do you get to know someone when you feel like you don't really know yourself?
I don't know if all new moms go through an identity crisis, but for me it has been the hardest part of becoming a parent so far. I'm sure I will figure myself out eventually, i'm trying to turn this into a positive opportunity to reinvent myself into a better person. But who knows what will actually happen. For now, I'm pushing myself a little bit each day and seeing where that takes me.
My goal is not to reach a certain number on a scale, I've never been one to weigh myself obsessively (although that changed during pregnancy). Instead my goal is to be healthy, to be fit, to be strong and energetic, so that I can be the best mom for my little guy. And if all being those things makes the number on the scale drop and make me look better in a bathing suit for our upcoming vacation, well then isn't that nice. After being a second class citizen to myself I think I deserve the right to try and feel good about myself.
The other part of journey to the new me is learning how to be a mom without letting that become the only thing that defines me. I'm still an individual, and a wife, and a friend, but how do I continue to be all of those things when mostly I just feel like a mom. Moving to the desert and quitting my job was definitely an adjustment for me, and Jackson has definitely filled my days right back up. Now i'm trying to figure out how to be a full time mom while still finding time for myself. I struggle with being able to come out of "mommy mode" and be who I was before. My sweet husband has been so wonderful and patient with me over the last few months. He checks in to make my head is on straight, that i'm not sinking into an abyss of breast milk and tummy time, and he gives me a break when he can. We are working on redefining our relationship as parents and a couple, because no matter what I thought before, having a child changes your marriage, in wonderful and strange and scary ways. I'm also in a situation where I am making new friends, which happens with each new duty station and job and phase of life. The hard part is, how do you get to know someone when you feel like you don't really know yourself?
I don't know if all new moms go through an identity crisis, but for me it has been the hardest part of becoming a parent so far. I'm sure I will figure myself out eventually, i'm trying to turn this into a positive opportunity to reinvent myself into a better person. But who knows what will actually happen. For now, I'm pushing myself a little bit each day and seeing where that takes me.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Jackson Richard
The prince has arrived, and life as I know it has changed forever. It's taken me a month to write this post because i've been way too busy staring at the most beautiful baby boy in the world.
So here's the story for those that are interested, or at least the basics of the story because you really don't need the exact details. Friday, December 12th I went in for my 39 week appointment. We had been in somewhat of a holding pattern because of my mild preeclampsia and a false call on being induced the Tuesday before. So I knew there was a chance I would be admitted and induced, and then it happened! Its so strange to be sitting there, having my blood pressure monitored for the millionth time, everything seeming to be normal and then the doctor comes in and says, "i'm keeping you, ready to have a baby?" Well it was going to happen at some point right? So at 5pm they started with the drugs to induce labor, at around 9pm I went from having a mild contraction to having intense contractions every 30 seconds. By 10pm they stopped the meds and started giving me IV drugs for pain. At 11pm in my drug high but still crying from pain, the call was made to get the epidural. I loved the epidural. Jackson did not. You know something bad is happening when the nurse that has been checking on you comes into the room with 3 other nurses/doctors and starts talking to you like you're in kindergarten, trying to keep you calm and saying scary medical things in a sweet sing-song voice. Shots were given to try and stop my labor and get Jackson awake and moving and doing what he was supposed to do. Then they told me to try and get some rest...which was a great plan in theory. I wasn't really in pain anymore, my labor was progressing normally and it was after midnight. But like I said, Jackson was not a fan of the epidural, so every 15-30 minutes for the next 7 hours I was rotated from one side to the other, to my back, propped up, laid down, you get the idea. No sleep was had. Around 7am my doctor came in and checked my progress and told me it was almost time! At 9am the work started and three exhausting hours later, the little man arrived.
The moment that every new mom waits for has arrived. That first glimpse of your baby, the first chance to hold him and kiss him. I didn't quite get that moment. As Jackson finally showed himself, the doctor started talking. Tell me that we would have to do things a little differently, I wouldn't get to have Jackson put on my chest, Mark wouldn't get to cut the umbilical cord, we wouldn't have that first moment as a family because my baby wasn't breathing. Babies aren't supposed to be purple, and they aren't supposed to be quiet, Jack was both of those things. So as exhaustion and terror are taking over me, Mark went with our little one as a team of nurses and doctors worked on getting him to breath. Let me tell you, time stood still until I heard that first little noise. Just thinking about it now makes me emotional. After two hours of tests, observation and being on a breathing machine, Mark finally brought our baby back to me and I got to hold him for the first time. No mom should have to wait that long to hold her baby, but I would have waited forever for my perfect little boy.
Everything turned out okay, he had what they were calling a "difficult transition", and after 48 hours and normal results we were able to go home.
So that is how Jackson Richard made his arrival. A little dramatic, and hard on us new parents at times, but I would do it all again if I had to. Jack still doesn't like transitions, I've never seen a baby make such a fuss about waking up! But he is growing like a little weed, which is slightly heart breaking because I want him to stay that tiny little baby, but its also beyond amazing to watch him grow and develop. He loves being sung to, little white christmas lights, being swaddled, and watching his daddy play video games. He holds his head up like a champ, and when he looks me in the eye I get all weepy because he's beautiful and i'm his momma. I spend every day falling in love with him, with my new little family, and my wonderful life.
So here's the story for those that are interested, or at least the basics of the story because you really don't need the exact details. Friday, December 12th I went in for my 39 week appointment. We had been in somewhat of a holding pattern because of my mild preeclampsia and a false call on being induced the Tuesday before. So I knew there was a chance I would be admitted and induced, and then it happened! Its so strange to be sitting there, having my blood pressure monitored for the millionth time, everything seeming to be normal and then the doctor comes in and says, "i'm keeping you, ready to have a baby?" Well it was going to happen at some point right? So at 5pm they started with the drugs to induce labor, at around 9pm I went from having a mild contraction to having intense contractions every 30 seconds. By 10pm they stopped the meds and started giving me IV drugs for pain. At 11pm in my drug high but still crying from pain, the call was made to get the epidural. I loved the epidural. Jackson did not. You know something bad is happening when the nurse that has been checking on you comes into the room with 3 other nurses/doctors and starts talking to you like you're in kindergarten, trying to keep you calm and saying scary medical things in a sweet sing-song voice. Shots were given to try and stop my labor and get Jackson awake and moving and doing what he was supposed to do. Then they told me to try and get some rest...which was a great plan in theory. I wasn't really in pain anymore, my labor was progressing normally and it was after midnight. But like I said, Jackson was not a fan of the epidural, so every 15-30 minutes for the next 7 hours I was rotated from one side to the other, to my back, propped up, laid down, you get the idea. No sleep was had. Around 7am my doctor came in and checked my progress and told me it was almost time! At 9am the work started and three exhausting hours later, the little man arrived.
The moment that every new mom waits for has arrived. That first glimpse of your baby, the first chance to hold him and kiss him. I didn't quite get that moment. As Jackson finally showed himself, the doctor started talking. Tell me that we would have to do things a little differently, I wouldn't get to have Jackson put on my chest, Mark wouldn't get to cut the umbilical cord, we wouldn't have that first moment as a family because my baby wasn't breathing. Babies aren't supposed to be purple, and they aren't supposed to be quiet, Jack was both of those things. So as exhaustion and terror are taking over me, Mark went with our little one as a team of nurses and doctors worked on getting him to breath. Let me tell you, time stood still until I heard that first little noise. Just thinking about it now makes me emotional. After two hours of tests, observation and being on a breathing machine, Mark finally brought our baby back to me and I got to hold him for the first time. No mom should have to wait that long to hold her baby, but I would have waited forever for my perfect little boy.
Everything turned out okay, he had what they were calling a "difficult transition", and after 48 hours and normal results we were able to go home.
So that is how Jackson Richard made his arrival. A little dramatic, and hard on us new parents at times, but I would do it all again if I had to. Jack still doesn't like transitions, I've never seen a baby make such a fuss about waking up! But he is growing like a little weed, which is slightly heart breaking because I want him to stay that tiny little baby, but its also beyond amazing to watch him grow and develop. He loves being sung to, little white christmas lights, being swaddled, and watching his daddy play video games. He holds his head up like a champ, and when he looks me in the eye I get all weepy because he's beautiful and i'm his momma. I spend every day falling in love with him, with my new little family, and my wonderful life.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Dear Pregnancy
As my time being pregnant is quickly running out, I decided it was time to put my feelings on pregnancy in writing...
Dear Pregnancy,
It's time to break up. It's not me, it's you. You've got to go. We've had some great times together and I can't thank you enough for those. Getting a positive on that little stick, seeing our baby on the first ultrasound, hearing his heartbeat and finding out he was in fact a he, feeling him kick for the first time, and mostly every time after that; these are moments I will treasure forever. True blessings of being a pregnant woman who is able to experience these incredible things. Thanks for all that, pregnancy, it means so much that we were able to share those things. But it hasn't all been heartbeats and flowers, and that's why our time together must end. There were the first weeks of exhaustion and nausea, the not one but two glucose tests with all that blood work, not cool. All those (ahem) stomach issues...seriously yuck. At times, it felt like you were suffocating me, pushing all my organs around really messes with my breathing. There's the weird little red dots on my chest, a rash because gaining almost 30 pounds isn't enough, really pregnancy? All the jabs of little feet in my ribs, and lately the head buts to my pelvis, I get it, you're done too. And then there's the H-word, hormones, yikes! This break-up is especially emotional for me, my poor husband doesn't know if i'm going to cry or yell at him lately, and it's all your fault. So pregnancy, we are done, I want my body back. And most of all you've been hogging my little boy for 9 months and now it's my turn. I will always love you, and someday I hope we meet again, but for now we're done!
Love,
Soon to be new-mommy Kate
PS. To everyone else, it's quiet time for the Blinn family as we await the arrival of our Jackson. If you are lucky enough to be part of the Grandmother texting chain you will get updates along the way. If not, you all get to wait for the super exciting instagram/facebook announcement once we are home with our little bundle. We so appreciate how excited everyone is for us and we can't wait to share our joy with you, after we have kept him all to ourselves for a little bit ;)
Dear Pregnancy,
It's time to break up. It's not me, it's you. You've got to go. We've had some great times together and I can't thank you enough for those. Getting a positive on that little stick, seeing our baby on the first ultrasound, hearing his heartbeat and finding out he was in fact a he, feeling him kick for the first time, and mostly every time after that; these are moments I will treasure forever. True blessings of being a pregnant woman who is able to experience these incredible things. Thanks for all that, pregnancy, it means so much that we were able to share those things. But it hasn't all been heartbeats and flowers, and that's why our time together must end. There were the first weeks of exhaustion and nausea, the not one but two glucose tests with all that blood work, not cool. All those (ahem) stomach issues...seriously yuck. At times, it felt like you were suffocating me, pushing all my organs around really messes with my breathing. There's the weird little red dots on my chest, a rash because gaining almost 30 pounds isn't enough, really pregnancy? All the jabs of little feet in my ribs, and lately the head buts to my pelvis, I get it, you're done too. And then there's the H-word, hormones, yikes! This break-up is especially emotional for me, my poor husband doesn't know if i'm going to cry or yell at him lately, and it's all your fault. So pregnancy, we are done, I want my body back. And most of all you've been hogging my little boy for 9 months and now it's my turn. I will always love you, and someday I hope we meet again, but for now we're done!
Love,
Soon to be new-mommy Kate
PS. To everyone else, it's quiet time for the Blinn family as we await the arrival of our Jackson. If you are lucky enough to be part of the Grandmother texting chain you will get updates along the way. If not, you all get to wait for the super exciting instagram/facebook announcement once we are home with our little bundle. We so appreciate how excited everyone is for us and we can't wait to share our joy with you, after we have kept him all to ourselves for a little bit ;)
Thursday, November 20, 2014
The final countdown
We are one month away from Baby Blinn's due date!! Which mostly means this little guy can show up whenever the heck he feels like. (Don't worry mom, I think he'll wait until you arrive.) So the freaking out has been kicked up a notch. Everyone says this is the time to sleep and relax and clean the house, all those things I wont be able to do once our little bundle arrives. Well let me tell you, I can't really do them now either. My body must be prepping for sleep deprivation because waking up 4-5 times a night and spending hours laying wide awake in bed has become the new routine. Yesterday I tried to do laundry, after separating all the dirty clothes into three baskets and dragging the first basket out to the laundry machine, I had to lay down on the couch because I was winded and my back hurt...awesome. My beautiful wedding rings also had to come off yesterday since they were trying to permanently fuse themselves with my poor chubby finger. It took ice, olive oil, soap and not a small amount of yanking to get those things off.
So i've decided to take it easy for the next few weeks (not that life has been that taxing lately, but still) to prepare myself for the extreme life change that is headed my way. I'm cherishing my mornings on the couch with my fur baby who is soon to be ignored. I'm watching Christmas movies even though it isn't Thanksgiving yet. And I am refusing to feel guilty about just staying home and being quiet in my house. We have a dear friends wedding this weekend that we are so excited for, one last excuse to get all dressed up and be out as a couple. Then its Thanksgiving, which we will spend with friends, and have a weekend full of Christmas prepping, getting our tree and decorating! After that we will be in December and on serious baby watch!
Today also marks the start of my weekly Dr appointments, which somehow makes it more real. Still waiting for baby to flip, and I have yet to experience my first contraction so there is definitely some anxiety mounting. So far I have been so lucky to have a relatively easy pregnancy and i'm hoping Jackson will be just as nice to me when he makes his arrival. I can't believe i'm almost done with this crazy stage of life, nothing will ever compare to some of the feelings i've had during this first pregnancy. But man am I ready to meet little Jackson and become a family of three!
So i've decided to take it easy for the next few weeks (not that life has been that taxing lately, but still) to prepare myself for the extreme life change that is headed my way. I'm cherishing my mornings on the couch with my fur baby who is soon to be ignored. I'm watching Christmas movies even though it isn't Thanksgiving yet. And I am refusing to feel guilty about just staying home and being quiet in my house. We have a dear friends wedding this weekend that we are so excited for, one last excuse to get all dressed up and be out as a couple. Then its Thanksgiving, which we will spend with friends, and have a weekend full of Christmas prepping, getting our tree and decorating! After that we will be in December and on serious baby watch!
Today also marks the start of my weekly Dr appointments, which somehow makes it more real. Still waiting for baby to flip, and I have yet to experience my first contraction so there is definitely some anxiety mounting. So far I have been so lucky to have a relatively easy pregnancy and i'm hoping Jackson will be just as nice to me when he makes his arrival. I can't believe i'm almost done with this crazy stage of life, nothing will ever compare to some of the feelings i've had during this first pregnancy. But man am I ready to meet little Jackson and become a family of three!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Generation Y Parenting
We are about 5 weeks away from becoming parents to our little boy, and as we get closer my parenting fears have started to shift. I'm not as scared of the crying and the lack of sleep and knowing what my child will need. I know I will figure it out, my "mommy reflexes" will kick in and I will be fully capable of keeping Jackson alive and happy. My fears are now centered around how my son will learn and grow in our world of fast paced, technology obsessed life. I'm realizing that in order to give my son the childhood I want him to have, the childhood I think he deserves, my husband and I are actually going to have to change our lives first. We are part of the last generation that played outside instead of with video games, that got handed a puzzle instead of an iphone when we needed to be entertained, and used an encyclopedia at the library instead of google to do our homework. And then as we grew up, so did technology, and now we can't believe how we survived without our handheld devices. I am as guilty as anyone else, the TV is on most of the day, just playing in the background as a distraction, and my cell phone is hardly ever out of reach. As a military family stationed across the country from everyone we love, all the technology can be a blessing to keep us in touch with everyone back home, and that definitely wont change once Jackson arrives. Using my iphone to make sure my parents and in-laws can see their grandson is a blessing, and definitely something I am thankful for. But other than that, the arrival of our son will jumpstart a serious unplugging in this house.
The constant noise of the TV will be replaced with the sound of my voice. I plan to talk and sing to my son constantly. I am my child's first teacher and I want to feed his little brain with as much as he can handle. Which won't include the overstimulating images that can cause a lack of focus and attention, which, lets be honest, most little boys have an issue with already. My husband and I both have fond memories of playing outside, using our imaginations to create alternate worlds in our backyards, it would break my heart if my son never got to create those memories. I'm pretty sure kids wont remember the video games they played, but I promise they will remember the refrigerator box that got turned into a castle.
I am getting the incredible gift of being able to stay at home with my son and I plan to use this opportunity to give him the best first years I can. I am going to play with my son, I'm going to teach him things and take him places, and I am going to let him discover the real world. I know that there will be times when my patience is short and the idea of handing him a phone with a game on it will seem like the only answer. And maybe there will be times when that does actually happen, because lets be serious I am not going to be the perfect mother. But I plan to try my hardest to give this little guy as much of a technology free first few years as possible. There will be plenty of time for him to be a grown up, he deserves to be a kid for as long as he can be.
The constant noise of the TV will be replaced with the sound of my voice. I plan to talk and sing to my son constantly. I am my child's first teacher and I want to feed his little brain with as much as he can handle. Which won't include the overstimulating images that can cause a lack of focus and attention, which, lets be honest, most little boys have an issue with already. My husband and I both have fond memories of playing outside, using our imaginations to create alternate worlds in our backyards, it would break my heart if my son never got to create those memories. I'm pretty sure kids wont remember the video games they played, but I promise they will remember the refrigerator box that got turned into a castle.
I am getting the incredible gift of being able to stay at home with my son and I plan to use this opportunity to give him the best first years I can. I am going to play with my son, I'm going to teach him things and take him places, and I am going to let him discover the real world. I know that there will be times when my patience is short and the idea of handing him a phone with a game on it will seem like the only answer. And maybe there will be times when that does actually happen, because lets be serious I am not going to be the perfect mother. But I plan to try my hardest to give this little guy as much of a technology free first few years as possible. There will be plenty of time for him to be a grown up, he deserves to be a kid for as long as he can be.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
The Third Trimester
28 weeks in and a little under 12 weeks until the little man is scheduled to arrive, and I am caught between desperately wanting everything to be done and ready and for him to be here, and wanting time to freeze because I am terrified of how much life is going to change. It's a crazy feeling knowing there is this imaginary finish line that is actually just the starting line for something much bigger that has no finish line. Impending motherhood is making me very philosophical and wise...moving on.
For me this week is about appointments, and torturous ones at that. I had to have another ultrasound to recheck some things, and as great as it is to see Jackson swimming around, moving his arms and legs and opening his mouth, I also believe that ultrasounds are designed to test a pregnant woman's will to live. They make you drink 36 ounces of water and you CANNOT go to the bathroom for 2 HOURS! By this point in the pregnancy you've got about a 3 pound kid sitting on your bladder and kicking you whenever he damn well pleases. And its the miracle of life and blah blah blah, but seriously I have to pee! So the technician starts showing me all the adorable things my baby is doing and my darling husband starts asking what organ that little white blob is and everything is great because they aren't about to burst and don't have someone pushing gel around their belly with a blunt cold object. Anyway, the appointment ended and I finally got to relieve myself and all was again right with the world. By the way, Jackson has graduated from looking like a baby dinosaur to more like a baby monkey, and he was grabbing his toes and is just the cutest in-utero baby ever (obviously). Tomorrow the torture continues with my glucose test! I get to go drink a bottle of syrup and then sit in a waiting room for an hour so that they can watch me and make sure I don't pass out or something and then I get to have blood work, yay! After that lovely experience I will get to go see my regular OB for my routine 28 week appointment and to go over the results of the ultrasound.
In other news, the numbers on the scale are climbing scarily high, although they say i'm doing great and am on target to be in the normal range. But still, yikes! The numbers are probably related to the fact that I have an appetite like a football player, I amaze even myself with my ability to eat. Which brings us to the indigestion, a super fun symptom that makes evenings so comfortable. To counteract all of that I am taking yoga at least twice a week and the weather is cooling down so I can go for walks again!! The break from the heat is seriously a god send because this mama was starting to get really miserable. The mornings are now a gorgeous 65-75 degrees so I can spend them on the patio with the pup and my one cup of coffee per day. Its sunny and there is a breeze and its doing amazing things for my attitude about this hell hole of a desert town that we live in. My husband still thinks i'm crazy for one reason or another on a daily basis, but we are trying to fill our remaining time as a twosome with fun activities so that we can have fond memories to look back on in 3 months when we aren't sleeping or speaking to each other due to lack of said sleeping and all the crying and pooping we will be dealing with. Also, both mothers are coming to visit this month to try and squeeze in a little alone time with their babies before the babies have a baby of their own. It will be fun to have the grandmas here to see the nursery and help get us ready with any preparations and to enjoy some mom time.
Another fun little tidbit, I have been playing all sorts of music around the house for Jackson to hear and haven't had much response. A few days ago, Mark was making a playlist for the gym and started playing 2pac, the kid went nuts. Apparently we have a tiny gangster in our future.
For me this week is about appointments, and torturous ones at that. I had to have another ultrasound to recheck some things, and as great as it is to see Jackson swimming around, moving his arms and legs and opening his mouth, I also believe that ultrasounds are designed to test a pregnant woman's will to live. They make you drink 36 ounces of water and you CANNOT go to the bathroom for 2 HOURS! By this point in the pregnancy you've got about a 3 pound kid sitting on your bladder and kicking you whenever he damn well pleases. And its the miracle of life and blah blah blah, but seriously I have to pee! So the technician starts showing me all the adorable things my baby is doing and my darling husband starts asking what organ that little white blob is and everything is great because they aren't about to burst and don't have someone pushing gel around their belly with a blunt cold object. Anyway, the appointment ended and I finally got to relieve myself and all was again right with the world. By the way, Jackson has graduated from looking like a baby dinosaur to more like a baby monkey, and he was grabbing his toes and is just the cutest in-utero baby ever (obviously). Tomorrow the torture continues with my glucose test! I get to go drink a bottle of syrup and then sit in a waiting room for an hour so that they can watch me and make sure I don't pass out or something and then I get to have blood work, yay! After that lovely experience I will get to go see my regular OB for my routine 28 week appointment and to go over the results of the ultrasound.
In other news, the numbers on the scale are climbing scarily high, although they say i'm doing great and am on target to be in the normal range. But still, yikes! The numbers are probably related to the fact that I have an appetite like a football player, I amaze even myself with my ability to eat. Which brings us to the indigestion, a super fun symptom that makes evenings so comfortable. To counteract all of that I am taking yoga at least twice a week and the weather is cooling down so I can go for walks again!! The break from the heat is seriously a god send because this mama was starting to get really miserable. The mornings are now a gorgeous 65-75 degrees so I can spend them on the patio with the pup and my one cup of coffee per day. Its sunny and there is a breeze and its doing amazing things for my attitude about this hell hole of a desert town that we live in. My husband still thinks i'm crazy for one reason or another on a daily basis, but we are trying to fill our remaining time as a twosome with fun activities so that we can have fond memories to look back on in 3 months when we aren't sleeping or speaking to each other due to lack of said sleeping and all the crying and pooping we will be dealing with. Also, both mothers are coming to visit this month to try and squeeze in a little alone time with their babies before the babies have a baby of their own. It will be fun to have the grandmas here to see the nursery and help get us ready with any preparations and to enjoy some mom time.
Another fun little tidbit, I have been playing all sorts of music around the house for Jackson to hear and haven't had much response. A few days ago, Mark was making a playlist for the gym and started playing 2pac, the kid went nuts. Apparently we have a tiny gangster in our future.
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