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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

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 offOn
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!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

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:



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

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

Monday, April 1, 2013

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?

Monday, March 25, 2013

Week 18: Bigger Every Day!

I'm at week 18 and this baby belly is growing! I've also hit a panic stage where I've started freaking out about everything we need to get done over the next 22 weeks. My shopping gene is aching to buy stuff for baby and the nursery, but it's really difficult to do that when we're still 2 weeks out from finding out if Baby Legg is a boy or a girl. That hasn't totally stopped me as this week I purchased this adorable stuffed owl from Pier 1:


And this Mickey Mouse onesie set off of Zulily.com:

It was on sale for $10 and I just couldn't resist. It totally could be worn by a boy and if we have a girl I could pair it with a grey headband and legwarmers.

The Scentsy warmer that I ordered for the room just came in this week, too. So cute!


I know it probably looks like I'm inadvertently doing an owl theme for the room, but I really don't have a theme. Those owls just stood out to me!

I also was bound and determined to get our furniture figured out for the nursery this week. I've been scourging Craigslist for dressers to refurbish for the past several months and have not had a whole lot of luck. I did send Jon out into the middle of nowhere a few weeks ago for a dresser to turn into a changing table. He did his job and came back with the dresser as requested, but it was HUGE (like taking up half the room huge) and the drawers were pretty worn down. We sat with it for a couple of weeks trying to convince ourselves we could make it work, but we both really hated it. So back on Craigslist it goes and we ended up purchasing this one in Sauk Rapids on Friday:


It's much smaller and much nicer, and I can't wait to see what it turns out like once Jon sands it down and paints it white.

We then ventured out to Greenwood later that night on what was one of the scariest road trips I think I've ever been on, and after a lot of getting lost on terrifying, unpaved, covered in ice county road, we finally found the house where two teenage boys were literally standing outside holding the (small) dresser and threw it in the back of the van before we could even look at it. Jon and I were so stressed from the drive, I just gave them the $20 for the dresser and we drove off. When we looked in the back seat, we realized just how small the dresser was. It looked like a toy. I started laughing hysterically (mostly to keep from crying) and continued for about 10 minutes into our 1.25hr drive back home.


Now that it is home and in the room it really isn't THAT bad, but we're still holding off on painting it, and we continue to be on the lookout for another one that's a little taller. So if anyone knows someone trying to get rid of a four or five drawer dresser for cheap, keep us in mind!

We're planning on painting both dressers white and maybe doing an ombre effect on the 4-drawer dresser in either aqua or coral (depending on boy or girl). I also picked out these drawer pulls off of Ebay that we'll be ordering soon in order to get the dressers to match a little better. The first one is for if it's a girl and the second for a boy.



Jon's parents were generous enough to order us our crib this weekend, too! We ordered the Jenny Lind crib I've been ogling over for months and it should be here sometime next week already. Hooray!
  
AND they've also offered to give us the chair that they used to have in their living room that they recently upgraded. Here's a picture of Jon sitting in it several Christmases ago to give you an idea:

So that means despite my anxiety over not being able to really start shopping and planning, we still have all the big furniture items for the nursery figured out (with the exception of possibly replacing the second dresser)!

It's been a good week!


Oh, I also forgot to mention I've been a bit on the emotional side lately. Just about anything can reduce me not just to tears, but violent sobs nowadays. I usually am laughing through the crying though and profusely apologizing to Jon because I know I'm acting like a total nutjob, but I can't help it!

How far along? 18 weeks 
Total weight gain/loss: The scale read 1lb heavier this week, though like I posted last week, our scale is kind of on the fritz. So maybe I'm back to 0lbs total gained rather than the negative, maybe not, or maybe I've gained more (the most likely scenario due to my ever growing belly), but I'll probably have to wait two more weeks 'til our next appointment to be sure what I'm at.
Maternity clothes? Still rocking the belly bands and leggings and have been wearing a lot more dresses now that the weather is finally starting to warm up (if you consider 35 degrees warm!)
Stretch marks? None yet
Best moment this week: All our purchases! Can't wait for the baby room to be cleaned out and setup!
Miss Anything? When we were grocery shopping yesterday those rotisserie chickens smelt oh so good, but the thought of physically eating some made my stomach churn. Dang food aversions!
Movement: I swear to goodness I felt something yesterday at the grocery store, but who knows. I think I'm just losing my mind over the anticipation.
Food Cravings: Avocados, toaster strudels, veggie pizza dipped in ranch, corn and bean salsa, cheese curds, brownies.....I also am really loving those Mio liquid water enhancers. I bought the mango peach and Berry Pomegranate and their really helping increase my water intake.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Beef and chicken. What's new?
Have you started to show yet: Um, yeah. Definite baby pudge sticking out now.
Gender: Two weeks from today is our ultrasound! Yeah!
Labor Signs: Nope
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Movement and finding out the gender. Jon and I and his parents all took off work the ultrasound day to go fabric shopping and to go to Ikea. I CAN'T WAIT!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Week 17: Where is Spring?!

I'm so anxious for spring to get here! Acomodating my belly will be so much easier when I'm able to choose sundresses over leggings and sweaters. But here in Minnesota, two days away from the first day of spring 2013, and schools are shut down due to a winter storm warning with more snow expected and wind chills reaching -20 degrees by tomorrow. WHY?!

 
 
How far along? 17 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Well I'm not really sure because I think our scale is broken. When I went to weigh myself this morning it said I was down 10 lbs and I'm pretty positive that there is no way that that's possible. So until either our next doctor's appointment or I get a new scale, I'll keep it at -1 overall.
Maternity clothes? I did get to wear one of my maternity shirts on Saturday for our St. Patrick's Day celebrating, but it was totally unnecessary. I just wore it because it was easier to stretch down over my leggings, but I'll still count it.
Stretch marks? None yet
Best moment this week: Eating Chipotle again! I had had an aversion to it for quite awhile since it was one of the last things I ate before morning sickness began, but I pounded the biggest veggie burrito I've ever seen on Saturday.
Miss Anything? Sushi, margaritas, and now hot dogs join the list this week. I know that's really weird since I have an aversion to most other meats right now, but Jon made himself a hot dog the other day and it kind of smelled amazing. Too bad it's on the "no no" list from the doctor :-(
Movement: I haven't felt anything since my possible episode last week, so I'll chalk that up to a big fat no :-(
Food Cravings: Avocados, popcorn shrimp, shrimp tacos, kiwi, veggie pizza, toaster strudels, Girl scout cookies....You know you're pregnant when you have to pause your workout video for a Girl Scout Cookie break! Don't worry, I chose the Lemonades as they are clearly the healthiest option out of my case of Peanut Butter Patties and Samoas.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Beef and chicken continue to lead the way on the queasy factor. I'm starting to get really frustrated by this because it's really hard to eat out. Do you know how difficult it is to find something vegetarian at Buffalo Wild Wings? I also really miss burger toppings but the thought of a burger makes me want to gag. Pregnant lady problems.
Have you started to show yet: There's definitely some bulk in the belly area now.
Gender: 21 more days!
Labor Signs: Nope
Wedding rings on or off? On and my fingers must be getting back to their regular size because they're not slipping as much anymore.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Movement! Any day now, Baby Legg...

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Week 16: Getting a Belly



How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Up one so still a -1 total.
Maternity clothes? Love, love, loving my belly band!
Stretch marks? None yet
Best moment this week: Our 16 week appointment. Nothing really exciting happened, but now I can say that we find out the gender at our NEXT APPOINTMENT! I also got this Skip Hop diaper bag in black that I had ordered in the mail today. Yay!
Miss Anything? Sushi. I told Jon that my "push gift" should be dinner at the all-you-can-eat sushi place in Maple Grove. I miss sushi so hard.
Movement: I thought I felt something like a fishy swimming around in my tummy a few days ago when I was lying in bed, but now I think I may have made it up because I've felt absolutely nothing since then.
Food Cravings: Avocados, Bravo's burritos, Mongos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Spicy Buffalo Wheat Thins by the handful....
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still no meat (other than some seafood here and there) :-(
Have you started to show yet: I've got a mini bump!
Gender: 26 more days....26 more days....26 more days...
Labor Signs: Nope
Wedding rings on or off? Still falling off!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: 26 more days! I'm so excited to get started on decorating Baby Legg's nursery!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Week 15: Sick Again

Unfortunately after such an awesome week last week, I think I caught a stomach bug this week :-( Thursday night into Friday morning I woke up several times with a belly ache and when I went to get up for work Friday morning, I promptly got sick and proceeded to do so 3 more times over the next couple of hours. My stomach then gave me a brief break before another 4 or 5 times of getting sick throughout the rest of the day. I would literally take a sip of water and it would be back up within 5 minutes. Around 7pm, my fever had spiked to about 100.4 and I realized that I hadn't peed all day (which is especially unusual now that it has become common for me to pee at least once every couple of hours or so), so I finally gave in and called the nurse's hotline and was told I should probably go into the ER. Damn.

Of course it was opening night for Charlotte's Web (the timing could not have been more perfect *sarcasm*) so Jon's parents came to pick me up while Jon rushed out of his show to meet us at the hospital. I was immediately taken in and hooked up to an IV to get some fluids in me while I got asked a bunch of questions and my vitals were taken. A nurse came in to check on Baby Legg's heartbeat...yay, an upside to having to come in! Or so I thought.

After about 10 min of searching around, Nurse #1 started to look nervous and said that she needed to go find another nurse because she couldn't find the heartbeat. Not to worry, it probably was just their Doppler machine having issues. Um yeah, OK. No worries here, lady. Right. Nurse #1 comes back with Nurse #2 who, through another 10 minutes of checking to no avail, had just the best bedside manner I could have hoped for. "Nope, I'm just not convinced we're finding anything in there," was one of my favorite quotes I got to hear as I'm sobbing on the table and Nurse #1 is desperately still trying to reassure me that everything is fine. Nurse #2 gives up and asks Nurse #3 to give it a go. Another 10 minutes of searching and another no go. Nurse #3 decides it's best to go find a doctor. Doctor comes back to find me a blubbering mess and he drags in an ultrasound machine. Within about 1.28 seconds, Baby Legg is showing bright and clear on the ultrasound machine with a little heart ticking away like normal. It's kind of a funny story now, with the up side of getting to see a 1st bonus ultrasound, but seriously. Worst half an hour of my life. At least I forgot I was sick for a while.

The rest of the hospital visit was pretty boring. Two bags of IV fluids paired with some anti-nausea medication, a few tests, and several hours of me trying to get some Gatorade and broth down to prove I could keep something in my stomach, and I was finally released around 2am.

Baby's first hospital visit:


 
Saturday and Sunday I took it easy with no more throwing up to report. Back to work on Monday and I was bent over the toilet within two hours of being there. I went back to work Tuesday for a second attempt and lasted the day and have been feeling back to normal today.

 
How far along? 15 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I lost 2 lbs this last week with being sick so I'm back to the negative 2 overall.
Maternity clothes? Still only the belly band and maternity leggings
Stretch marks? Nope, but I'm keeping up with my Bio Oil regimen daily.
Best moment this week: Getting to see a surprise ultrasound, despite the negativity that led to it ;-)
Miss Anything? Getting a regular night's sleep. I had crazy restless legs Monday night that I've never had a problem with pre-pregnancy.
Movement: Nothing definite yet, just a lot of me trying to convince myself that I'm feeling something, but I finally should be feeling some over the next few weeks!
Food Cravings: Today I'm craving the plantain chip nachos from Chino Latino. Maybe I can convince Jon to make a special detour to the cities on his way home from work.....
Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat, meat, meat. And anything too cheesy.
Have you started to show yet: There's a little bump emerging...
Gender: Still waiting! I'm getting more anxious every day!
Labor Signs: Nope
Wedding rings on or off? They're actually sitting on my desk in front of me right now because they keep sliding off.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Now that I'm feeling better I'm happy!
Looking forward to: Jon going to check out a changing table for baby's room tomorrow and our 16 week appointment on Monday! And feeling some movement in there!

I forgot to mention last week that I started up a pregnancy workout. Up until my sick spell on Friday, I'd been doing Lindsay Brin's Pregnancy DVD: Yoga, Cardio & Toning Second Trimester pretty religiously every day. Man do you feel out of shape when you can't keep up with a room full of pregnant women! I really need to get back into my routine of going home and doing the video again now that I'm feeling a little better.