week 24

How far along? 24 weeks
Total weight gain: not sure :)
Sleep: pretty patchy :(
Best moment this week: um… Christmas?!
Movement: almost none; actually a little concerned & going to Dr tomorrow
Food cravings: really spicy food, especially jalapenos!
Gender: BOY!!
What I miss: walking without pain
What I am looking forward to: decorating the baby’s room!

From Baby Gaga:

This is another big week for your magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the your baby's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child will be weighing around 2 lbs and 14 inches long. Your cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

checking in

It has been way too long since I posted. I totally get that. But with all that’s been going on here, it just hasn’t been a priority. Christmas was really different this year – we had most of our parties ahead of time and by Christmas Day it was long over for us! Christmas Eve & Christmas Day found Tech Guy and I home alone, with no kids, in a very silent house (we actually spent it cleaning out the basement)! The break was good but the timing not so good… thankfully Grandpa and Grammy brought them back Christmas Day yet and we got to give them their gifts.

Boxing Day we started on the big drywall project in the basement and managed to get *most* of the walls done, just a few left plus the ceiling. And then comes mudding & taping and the fun part of picking out paint colors. Tech Guy’s parents are helping us out HUGE with the project – Dad is working on the drywall with Tech Guy and Mom is helping out with cooking, cleaning, babysitting, and to top it off she’s a painter and she’s agreed to help me with that! We could never afford this project right now if it weren’t for them. They are extremely generous people and we are so grateful!

I have a couple of cookbooks I got as Christmas presents that I’m really looking forward to using… Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis and The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. I think they’ll become my favorite coffee table books! The best gift by far was from my hubby… he was not supposed to buy me anything, because having the basement finished was the biggest thing I could ask for, but here he presents me with a  TWO-HOUR prenatal massage at my favorite spa in the city! So impressed!! I’ve been in a lot of constant pain this pregnancy and walking/lifting/working can be pretty hard some days so I know I’m really gonna appreciate this gift. Yay for sensitive husbands!!!

we are here…

Thanks to Missy for this idea… found on her blog here.

week 22

How far along? 22 weeks
Total weight gain: 10 lbs
Sleep: pretty good
Best moment this week: hubby’s surprise 30th birthday party
Movement: mostly faint flutters, really big kicks one morning!
Food cravings: really spicy food
Gender: BOY!!
What I miss: being able to bend over
What I am looking forward to: decorating the baby’s room!

From Baby Gaga:

The grow must go on! No wonder you’re getting so big, you’re now housing a wonder-baby who weighs nearly a pound and measures nearly a foot in length. Their perfect little pancreas is now further developed and they’ve also started producing their own hormones! Your baby's future in the circus as a world-famous tight-rope-walker is secure: their inner ear is now developed to the point that they have their own sense of balance. Lucky for your little explorer, balance also promotes physical dexterity, which has them actively feeling out their surroundings where skin, body parts, and the resident umbilical cord are the big sensory experiences. Your foot-long baby, is looking a bit like an oversized raisin right now as more and more wrinkles are showing up each week. Not to worry, all that excessive wrinkling is just their skin’s way of planning ahead for the time when they’ll start piling on that irresistible baby chub.

it worked

Tonight I did something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time. But in 9 1/2 years of marriage, it’s somehow never happened. I threw my hubby a surprise birthday party (his 30th is in 5 days) and it was a total success. This is completely miraculous since he’s normally very suspicious and I normally cannot keep anything from him! With the help of some dedicated & loyal friends we got him to a hockey game at a community hall, and when they were done playing, he comes out to the dining area, hot & sweaty and very post-hockey-looking, and here it’s all set up and there’s people everywhere… He just threw up his hands and set, “Alright, you got me!” It was so much fun, hanging out with the friends that mean the most to us; the food worked out pretty good & a good time was had by all.

It was so funny to hear him mumbling earlier in the day… “why on earth do they want to play hockey at 4 pm on a week day?!

week 21

(I really like this idea of updating each week like Kelly at You Make Me Live. She’s having a boy too and we’re due like 2 days apart!):

How far along? 21 weeks
Total weight gain: 10 lbs
Sleep: pretty good
Best moment this week: Buster wanting to “talk” to the baby. So sweet!
Movement: very faint flutters, hoping for more soon!
Food cravings: still fresh veggies, all the time! now also spicy food
Gender: BOY!!
What I miss: my energy!
What I am looking forward to: decorating the baby’s room!

From Baby Gaga:

“Your beautiful little miracle-gro baby will be putting on a full ounce and a half this week (and weighing up to 16.5 ounces), but that’s just the beginning! Within the next five weeks, they’ll really be packin’ it on! For now, we’re pleased to report the addition of rapid eye movement (REM) a key component to any healthy baby’s sleep schedule. While in the dermatology department: their thin soft skin is very red, rather translucent, and a bit wrinkled. Not to worry, it’s not a premature aging disease. It's just their clever little body setting them up with extra space that will smooth out once your little one starts packing on the baby-fat. That won’t be for a few more weeks, though. So for the time being, your munchkin is still a little lean mean growing machine! The beginnings of what is commonly called “brown fat” is just starting to fill in to help your baby retain some body heat, which is crucial as they’re not yet capable of regulating their own body temperature.”