Week 23: More Back Pain and Nursery Projects

Another week of terrible back pain but still crossing things off the checklist!

This weekend we got the dressers (almost) entirely painted! Jon was working on a final top coat gloss this morning to seal it and then we just need to put the drawer pulls on that I bought and they will be 100% done. Once we have it totally completed I'll post pictures and a step-by-step of everything we did. I'm super excited with how they're turning out!

Other upcoming things I'm getting super excited about: we're going down to the cities this weekend to register at Babies 'r Us and the super giant Target, and some tentative dates have been set for two of my baby showers! Some amazing and gorgeous lady friends of mine are planning on sometime in June for my shower with friends, and then Jon's family is throwing me a shower for his side on July 20th! It's also FINALLY warming up outside (high 60s, low 70s) so there is a lot to be happy and grateful about this week!

I've forgotten to mention in the past few blog posts that we've had Baby Girl Legg's name narrowed down to two names since before we even found out she was a girl, but man are we having a hard time narrowing it down to just one! I'm pretty positive at this point that we'll still be deciding at the hospital when I'm in labor! We're keeping the options a secret until Baby Girl is here, but the guessing can begin now :-)

I also was becoming stressed over coming up with a middle name for each of the two options, but Jon came up with a great idea for a middle name that we have tentatively decided on. I'm not sure if it works with one of the name options so it may end up changing, but right now I really like it!

How far along? 23 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up almost 9 lbs total...still lagging a bit behind where I should be but baby's weight was on track at our last appointment and our doctor doesn't seem concerned.
Maternity clothes? I had a sort of slap-in-the-face reality check yesterday morning about my wardrobe going forward. I had convinced myself that the majority of my dresses (including the zip up ones) would fit fine throughout my whole pregnancy since most of my dresses are more fitted on top and then become really flowing and loose under the bust. It was perfectly logical to assume that since I've only been growing in my belly that these would be perfect because they'd be loose enough just where they needed to be....or so I thought.... Apparently my chest has grown quite a bit larger then I've been willing to admit to myself because when I went to wear a zip up dress to work yesterday morning, the sides of the zipper could barely reach my shoulder blades! I made poor Jon sit there and try and zip up every single one of my pre-pregnancy zip up dresses, and if he'd even start to make a comment that he didn't think that it was working, I would snap at him through tears that he had no idea what he was talking about because they HAD to still fit! Yeah, well, they didn't. So there goes over half of what I was anticipating having for my maternity wardrobe this summer. Bummer! I did buy a couple of non-maternity maxi dresses and skirts at Target this weekend that are so comfortable and are great substitutes for maternity clothes, though. I also caved and ordered a pair of black maternity capris for work from the Gap (on sale with an extra 35% off promo code brought it from $60 to $16 so I really couldn't say no!) after yesterday's fiasco.
Sleep? Sleeping fine besides the comfort aspect. My back pain makes it difficult to find a comfortable position and I often wake up in pain, but the bathroom trips have decreased a bit this week.
Stretch marks? None yet, still keeping up with the Bio Oil.
Best moment this week: Painting the dressers and seeing Jon in The King and I (more below)
Miss Anything? Getting a full night's sleep and being able to lay down comfortably.
Movement: Crazy amount of movement! She's a little acrobat, jumping from one side of my stomach to the other in seconds! My tummy looks like a wave pool! She also really hates when I sit in any position that crowds my stomach...she throws a fit if I sit cross-legged in a straight back chair or when I lean forward to eat..
Food Cravings: I haven't had a ton of cravings this week....I'm really into lemonade right now, though. I order it every time we're out to eat. I don't like the bottled stuff at the grocery store, only fresh squeezed. I'm so high maintenance.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. I'm still really picky about when and where I'll eat meat, but nothing's really making me sick.

Have you started to show yet: Definitely. I might as well stop answering this because the answer's not going to change anytime soon!
Gender: Still a girl (I hope!)
Pregnancy Symptoms: When I've been saying back pain and round ligament pain have been my only symptoms in weeks past, I've totally been lying. I forgot to keep my extremely emotional outbursts on the list. For a great example, we were watching a Biggest Loser episode the other day in bed and a mom was taking her daughter wedding dress shopping (after she had lost the weight) and I just started bawling out of nowhere and covered my eyes. Jon had to pry my arms off my face to ask me what was wrong, and I managed to get out between sobs, "I....can't wait....to do that....someday!" Sunday I went to see Jon in The King and I where he was filling in for one weekend as Lun Tha, star-crossed lovers with Tuptim. He had two beautiful songs about their forbidden love and all that jazz, and of course he was amazing as he always is, but it probably didn't warrant me crying like a baby every time he even walked on stage. Yeah. I'm a freak right now. The tiniest thing will completely set me off.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Registering and finishing up the curtains for the dining room, kitchen, and baby room on Saturday :-)

Week 22: Same Old, Same Old

Not too much exciting or new happening this week.

 

Over the weekend we finally finished shopping for fabric and (with major help from Jon's mom) started work on making curtains for both baby's room and the kitchen and dining room. Yes, at a point where both time and finances are in a crunch, we decided to redo just about every window fixture in the house. But the drapes are almost done (just 3 valances and 2 roman shades left to sew!) and I'm happy we're getting it done now as it would probably be moved to the back burner for the next 5+ years unless we got it done before baby.

 

As far as everything else goes, it was a pretty ordinary week. I'm still keeping up with my pregnancy workout DVD (which I'm super proud I've lasted this long...I don't think I've ever stuck to a workout regimen for this long before!) and Jon is still picking away at sanding the two dressers. It's supposed to be in the 70s Saturday (YAY!) despite snow being in the forecast again today, so we're hoping to get outside this weekend to start painting them.

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I forgot to weigh myself this morning so we'll stick with the 6 lbs up for now. Whoops! Edit: As of Wednesday, I'm up a total of 8 lbs from pre-pregnancy.
Maternity clothes? My last pair of jeans that still fit under my belly officially stopped buttoning on Friday so I'm officially 100% completely into belly band, leggings, and sweatpants territory.
Sleep? Sleep has been a lot better. I actually slept in until 8:30am on Sunday! It still takes a lot to find a comfortable position with my back, though.
Stretch marks? Nope, so far Bio Oil has been doing its job.
Best moment this week: Eating chicken for the first time in months!
Miss Anything? Sushi...Jon and I had a date night at Fuji Steakhouse on Friday and it was pretty painful seeing the gorgeous plates of sushi carried right past our table.
Movement: Tons! It's getting so intense now that we can even see some of the more powerful kicks! It's crazy how something that weighs only a pound can pack that much punch.
Food Cravings: Avocados, Buffalo Wheat Thins, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, the usual :-)
Anything making you queasy or sick: I still am pretty apprehensive when it comes to most meat dishes, but I ate chicken at Fuji on Friday and got some ingredients for Korean beef to make for dinner sometime this week. So I'm still picky about meat, but it doesn't make me queasy or sick.

Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah
Gender: Girl!
Pregnancy Symptoms: Still back pain and some crazy intense round ligament pain, but not much other than that.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Possibly getting to paint the furniture this weekend and then I think we're planning to go register a week from Saturday! We also signed up for all our labor and newborn classes to start in June so I'm excited to get those going, too!

Week 21: Money Stresses

 We're well into week 21 and quickly realizing how expensive Baby Girl Legg really is going to be. I wasn't totally naive to the costs of kids, but wow. Figuring out how we're going to afford maternity leave and then childcare is no joke. How does anyone afford daycare?! Coming in at at least a quarter of my paycheck is just absolutely insane! I really need to start cutting off my spending on baby gear so we can start saving, especially after adding some mommy/daughter matching Toms to the list of purchases:

Anyways, in brighter news, our Disney princess silhouettes came in the mail and I mounted them on some scrapbook paper and framed them so they're already to hang on Baby Girl's wall once we get it all painted. SO excited with how they turned out!

Adorable, right?! 

We also went to the Baby Expo this past Saturday. It was fun but really tiring...a lot of walking and a LOT of people. We ended up winning a baby food maker at the "Make Your Own Baby Food" seminar, but after some discussion I think we've decided to take it to Target and return it for store credit since our food processor will get the same job done.

We also went and bought all the paint for baby's room on Sunday, as well as paint for the kitchen (the only other room in the house we haven't painted yet) so now I really have no excuse on making any more purchases for a while since we've got plenty to keep us busy!

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 6 lbs total
Maternity clothes? Nothing besides belly bands and maternity leggings required yet

Sleep? I've been sleeping better than last week, but I still ALWAYS wake up several times a night to go to the bathroom and I'm ALWAYS awake before my alarm. Very annoying.
Stretch marks? None yet
Best moment this week: Jon feeling even more kicks!
Miss Anything? Having disposable income to spare?
Movement: She's a kicking machine! Jon gets to feel kicks often now, especially Sunday night when she was kicking the crap out of me!
Food Cravings: Cheesecake, potato chips, Fig Newtons, chocolate, anything spicy, pizza with ranch, anything with ranch...
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still haven't braved meat yet

Have you started to show yet: Yup!
Gender: Girl :-)
Pregnancy Symptoms: Nothing but back pain!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Stressed, but happy!
Looking forward to: Still waiting on warmer weather around here and I'm excited to go register for baby stuff!

Week 20: Halfway and Getting Girly!

Baby Legg is a GIRL!!!!!! I'm so beyond thrilled!

We had our appointment Monday morning and got to take home a ton of pictures of Baby Girl Legg:

Here's one where she looks like she's melting

We almost didn't get to find out she is a girl though because the stubborn mule kept sitting on her legs! After almost an hour of checking over things over, the technician sent me to the bathroom to see if emptying my bladder would get her to move. I tried that (plus some jumping up and down in the bathroom that I am convinced is what got her to flip) and we were able to get a clear shot. She's estimated to be about 13oz right now and everything is right on track so we're keeping our due date of August 24th.

After the appointment, Jon and I went to my parents' for lunch and then went on an extensive fabric shopping trip with his parents and brother. If I never have to look at fabric again it will be too soon. We were looking for three prints/fabrics a piece for each of the three colors: teal, coral, and yellow. My issue is that I have a very specific picture in my head of what I want, and when I can't find it I get really frustrated and overwhelmed. I'm very grateful for how patient Jimm and Karen were with me, though, as we looked through every roll of fabric in two stores and a giant warehouse (SR Harris fabrics in Brooklyn Park). In the end, we ended up with three yellow, three teal, and two coral (so we still have one more shopping trip to do I guess :-/ ) that I'm very happy with.

After a dinner break at Cheesecake Factory where I got this beast to take home with me...

Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake (even the name could give you type 2 diabetes)

...we headed to Ikea for some speed shopping since we arrived only an hour before close. We picked up some drawer organizers, some shelves for Baby Girl's library, several picture frames, a replacement rug for the living room, and this beauty to glam out baby's room:

Ikea Kristaller Chandelier

BUT the shopping hasn't ended there! Yesterday at work I made a few more purchases....

1) Leg Warmers and Headbands (purchased off of Facebook co-op "Fireworks and Rubies") ;

2) Headbands ; 3) Headbands

And then today I bought this set of three headbands...

Evelyn Collection from Little Hip Squeaks

My absolute favorite purchase so far though has to be the custom order of Disney princess silhouettes Etsy seller MonkeyCs put together for me. I ordered just the silhouettes (not framed or matted) of Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Jasmine in various sizes that I'll be matting on some scrapbook paper I found at Crafts Direct yesterday to hang in the nursery.

If you can't tell, I'm kind of loving having a girl to look forward to. My wallet, on the other hand....not so much. I think I may have to put myself on a shopping hiatus for a little while or we'll be in the poor house by the time she gets here!

How far along? 20 weeks...HALF WAY! 

Total weight gain/loss: I'm up a whopping total of.....4 lbs. Lame. My pre-pregnancy weight was a bit higher than where I like to be so we can pretend I'm actually up more than that since I'll have more to lose more once baby comes.
Maternity clothes? I've been wearing a couple of my Old Navy maternity shirts just for funsies, but it's totally not necessary. Most of my old clothes will still stretch over my protruding belly with the help of the belly band or leggings. Side note here: it is April 10th today and we have snow in the forecast. I might cry. My growing body is begging for sundresses!

Sleep? Has been pretty elusive. Saturday I was wide awake at 3am for the rest of the morning...Monday was 2am. I just wake up extremely alert and ready to be awake at really odd hours. It's weird...
Stretch marks? Keeping up with my Bio Oil every night and nothing so far! I think it helps that I'm gaining so slowly right now, so I'm hoping they continue to stay away as I start packing on the pounds.
Best moment this week: Seeing Baby Legg and getting to go shopping for GIRL stuff!
Miss Anything? Sleeping
Movement: Um, yeah. Small flutters here and there from last week have quickly progressed to full on kicks pretty much 24-7. I am at a total loss as to when/if this kid sleeps because she never lets up on the kicking! Jon even got to feel a particularly powerful one Monday morning when we were awake at 2:30am watching Biggest Loser to try and get me back to sleep. During our ultrasound we got to watch her kicking the crap out of the side of uterus!
Food Cravings: Cheesecake, raw tuna (which I know I can't have, but I wanted the seared tuna salad at Cheesecake Factory so bad, though!), peanut butter cups....oh, and pizza with ranch dressing! I had never eaten that before pregnancy, but this week I've wanted it pretty much all day every day. I also bought two more flavors of the Mio water enhancers (blueberry lemonade and strawberry watermelon) to try and help with my water intake which I can't seem to keep up with. My calcium intake has been pretty lacking, too....and my protein intake....pretty much everything besides my cake and ice cream intake!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat, but I'm starting to warm up to the idea of giving it a try again...

Have you started to show yet: Definitely
Gender: GIRL! :-D
Pregnancy Symptoms: I really have nothing to complain about EXCEPT back pain! I've had back problems since I was a kid, but for the past three or four weeks it has been absolutely horrendous, particularly in my lower back on the right side. I'll get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and cry out in pain when I put weight on my right leg. I finally learned how to adjust my chair at work and that has helped some, but the pain is pretty persistent. Doctor says that I could try a chiropractor, but it probably won't completely fix the problem until Baby Girl moves up and gets off of my tail bone. Other than that though, no real constipation, heartburn, headaches, or any other 2nd trimester trademarks so I'm feeling pretty good!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Happy! Happy!
Looking forward to: Baby Expo at the Civic Center this weekend and the weather warming up so I can live in dresses and we can start painting the nursery!

Week 19: Happy Easter/Twins Opener/1 Week to Ultrasound!

I hope everyone had an awesome Easter weekend and spent a lot of time with their families and ate lots of chocolate...I know we sure did! Sunday morning we even made some festive deviled eggs to bring to my Grandma's (recipe can be found here):

Also in news this week, we were gifted the perfect replacement dresser after last week's blog post from our awesome friends Megan and Kyle! So nursery furniture is officially all figured out! YAY! As soon as the weather consistently warms up, I'll be sending Jon out to the garage to begin painting the dressers.

The doll sized dresser we replaced already sold within minutes of posting it on Craigslist on Friday night, and we've had some potential interest in the other dresser, as well. Here's to hoping that it, along with our computer desk, sell quickly so we can get the nursery all cleared out for when we're ready to start painting.

How far along? 19 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Our sketchy scale said I was 0.8 lbs up this week for a total of about 1 lb gained total. I think it might be more than that, though, but we won't find out for sure until our appointment next Monday.
Maternity clothes? Belly bands, leggings, and tights. I'm wearing one of my old pair of low rise jeans WITH a belt right now and no belly band, though! I'm carrying so high that some of my low rise jeans still fit under my belly just fine.
Stretch marks? None yet. I'm still trying to keep up with my nightly ritual of Bio Oil to keep them at bay!
Best moment this week: Seeing my family on Sunday for Easter
Miss Anything? Having a glass of wine with my family on Easter ;-)
Movement: Definite movement this week! It feels like little bubbles popping in one concentrated area of my stomach, not very much like kicking, but it's becoming regular enough that there is no question what it is anymore! Sunday morning Baby Legg was doing its best bunny impression and was popping around more than I've ever felt. It was so fun! I keep putting Jon's hand on my belly whenever it happens even though I can barely feel it so I know he won't yet. He's so jealous that I'm getting to feel baby this early and he isn't. I felt really bad for him until he said, "It's not fair...you get all the fun parts of pregnancy!" Snap. He will pay for that one, just haven't decided how or when yet....
Food Cravings: Chocolate, Reese's peanut butter cups, sunny side up eggs (which I can't have until we find some pasteurized eggs in this town!), toaster strudels, fish...

Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat

Have you started to show yet: Yup!
Gender: One more week to go until we'll know!!!!!
Labor Signs: Nope
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: A week from today! Are you a boy or a girl, Baby Legg?!

At one week away from the ultrasound, any guesses on boy or girl?