33 weeks

So, on friday afternoon/morning I posted a blog that Dan Jr. was moving around a lot. Well, that night (while i was sleeping) I had the WORST cramping ever. It was all the way around from my back to my front. It kept me up for a few hours. I texted LaNette and she wasn't sure what that was b/c it sounded a little strong to be a braxton hicks. well, pause in the story...

Today, we got up early and went to LaNette's house for our birthing class! well, we got there only to find out class was cancelled :( LaNette had 4 births in the last week with the most recent one ending around 6:30am (and class was supposed to start at her house at 9am). However, I never got the message b/c she had her assistant do the texting and I guess she texted the wrong "stephanie s."

Back to the story, while I was at LaNette's this morning I thought I would ask about what all that pain was I was going through the other night. She deduced that dan jr just made a big movement. He used to be laying face back/back up and he has since turned completely around and is now laying facing up with his back to my back. She says a movement that big mixed with the general position causes a lot of strain on my uterus. He is defiantly not in an ideal position but I guess there is enough time for him to fix is position and it shouldn't be as big of a deal as it was for him to turn back around.

**
Yesterday, mom and I went shopping and bought up the rest of the stuff that we need for the baby (well, at least for the first few weeks). Once of those items included a the stroller/car seat - which dan assembled today. Also, i finished my crib skirt! Now, I just have to clean the baby's room and I can attach the skirt.

Movement

Lots and Lots and Lots of movement today. This is a little unusual..and pretty uncomfortable.

32 week

Pregnancy is boring
my house is dirty and cluttered already
it's hard to write thank you cards when you're crabby

one positive - we had our pregnancy photoshoot yesterday. It was short and sweet and I can't wait to see the pics

This weekend alone i've gotten "you are so small" and "you are getting really big" and two people said "you aren't going to make it until your due date"

31 weeks - The Shower

My shower was this weekend and it went really!! It was held at Holler Park just down the road from us, the weather was great, and maybe 25-30 people were there (both sides and friends). It was theme "jungle animal" and it was super cute! I had a great time and it went by super fast.

• Cute baby shower items:
• Tiff made that watermelon baby carriage fruit basket thing - it turned out great.
• There were a bunch of diapers available for people to write cute notes on
• There was a cardbaord picture frame for people to sign - that activity was a little light
• Little blue pacifiers were frozen in ice cubes...first person whos "water breaks" one a  prize
• Gift bingo
• Little diapers wrapped up like diapers with milk balls in them
• The gift opening was fun, but also awkward. It took about an hour to get through everything and I almost broke a sweat it was so warm sitting up there.
• I didn't have much time to look around the room, but man did I see some board faces!! But at the same time there were some smiley faces in the front row :)
• After the shower a bunch of people came over after the shower and that was extremely overwhelming! the house was crowded, kitchen was messy, and everyone wanted to see the baby's room  - but it's not anything close to ready, or even cute to look at yet. 
• Dan's mom and 2 of this sisters (and one boyfriend) stayed at the house. It was a lot of fun having them here and also very exhausting. very much a whirl-wind weekend.
• This whole time too I've been fighting a cold.
• We got a lot of stuff and surprisingly not too many things we need to return  - though I haven't sorted through all of the clothes yet. Also, unfortunately, there were nearly no gift receipts, so most of it will be a pain in the butt to return anyways. And there's also a lot of stuff we need to buy still..
• There defiantly were some re-gifts and even a few used item.
• ...This post is bumming me out (it's making me mentally recap all the petty things that got me upset this weekend)...i think i just need more sleep.
• Now that it's over, time to move on and focus on our new family
• OH yeah, i forgot to mention the cake. Mom asked me where I wanted my cake from and I said that it would be just fine if she made a cake but that I don't like grocery store cakes. I was kind of hoping she would make the cake just b/c the only other option left would be to spend a lot of money at a regular bakery. Well, she bought a grocery store cake (from sendiks) and I didn't like it. However, it was decorated super cute (they copied the picture from my shower invites) and a lot of people at the shower said they really liked the cake. Mom even said that she told the lady at the grocery store that "my daughter doesn't like grocery store cakes" and they lady said back "well, we will have to change her mind about that!". Mom was so impressed she wants to go back to the store and personally thank that lady for making such a good cake. I never told my mom what I thought of the cake b/c it's really not important and she's so happy with the outcome. However, if she would ever directly ask me what I thought, I would say something.

30 Frickin' Weeks!

Yikes...and the 10 week countdown begins.

• Another good prenatal appointment. "everything is perfect" Dan jr is still head down and i guess he'll probably stay that way from now on. LaNette is estimating that he's about 2.25lbs, which is a little smaller than all the online resources are telling me (maybe 2.5-3lbs).

• I got my first shower gift this week too :) My Aunt Penny from Florida sent out a gift to mom's house. Mom gave me the option to wait until the shower or see it now...i chose to see it now hehe. It's a highchair!

• We had another doula interview this week (and another one tonight). Though it was better than the first one, it really didn't go that well. She seemed to have more confidence and i'm assuming this is coming from her background in nursing, but really she again only has maybe 5-7 births under her belt and they have all been at a hospital. however, this girl did have clients that she was not familiar with and seems to be moving in a more holistic direction. Overall, we still weren't impressed and at this point neither of those girls would be any better than just maybe having my mom there (and she would be free!). If these next few interviews go just as bad, I think i'm passing on a doula and will just look for an extra set of hand for dan from friend or family....

• Update: I had to stop writing this blog to take another doula interview. this one was great!! this lady was great, confident, experienced, knowledgeable, has homebirth experience, has worked with lanette before, and if affordable! she's bradely class instructor, certified in breastfeeding, infant massage, accupunture and herbal medicine, etc. etc. so cool.

• Dan's mom sent us an email early this week that she wants to "surprise" us by getting us a gliding rocker for a shower gift. This is a super sweet gesture, but it has ended up being a stressful one. Realistically, i don't think i want a glider. Vicki was adamant that we need one - a big comfy one. But when I think about it, it's just a big bulky expensive piece of furniture that I don't have room for and once i'm done with the bulk of the nursing, will just be something else I have to deal with. And if i'm really thinking that, it would be a waste of her money to get us a glider. We tried to tell her, but she said that she would just feel better knowing that we had one...the only thing holder her back was that the one we "wanted" was not in stock. So, that night (and during my lunch break) we ran out to the store to sit on all the rockers again and we weren't able to find one that was big enough and comfortable. So, we told vicki and she since has seemed to change her mind that if we really didn't want it, she wouldn't get it. so, now we are back at square one.

29 weeks

We were supposed to have our first pediatrician meeting this week. We are only interviewing two, one male and one female - and the female is also a lactation consultant. In both cases, we only have 15 min meetings with the docs. That really isn't enough time to go through all of the questions I have to ask. It's nearly not worth going - but w/e.

Anyways, the reason why we were supposed to me but didn't was b/c an hour before our appointment, I received a call cancelling the appointment! I was pretty upset for the extremely short notice - but i don't really know what's going on. we'll see.

We also had our first doula interview this week. LaNette gave me a few choices and the first option is already full, so I went to the second choice. Well, it was pretty horrible. The girl is very new (which is why we are seeing her b/c she's charges at least 1/2) but she's just seems TOO NEW. She's seems to be lacking a lot of confidence. It was almost awkward. As soon as she left, dan and I just had to look at each other and we new this wouldn't work. I fell a little bad not hiring her b/c I know what's it's like to need people to give you a chance, but in the case of my birth - I just can't do it. I will be probably in my most week and vulnerable state and I need everyone in that room to have at least as much confidence as me and preferable a lot more!! LaNette commandeered her and now i'm a little skeptical of the other recommendations. So, for the rest of the interview, i went out and did a search on my own. So, we have two more doula interviews next week. One lady actually sounds too good to be sure - she's been in the practice since 2008 and she's certified in infant massage, labor and delivery acupuncture, a lactation consultant, and she's a teacher in the bradely method. Yikes.

I'm that pregnant lady

Just this week I've noticed that I think i'm 'finally' being noticed at work. People who don't normally talk to me, are taking to me and people that don't normally say Hi, are saying hi. I'm wondering if it's kind of like MSOE, where a bunch of guys knew who you were and acted like we know each other...but really I had no idea who they were - but they probably knew me b/c I was one of maybe 2 girls in their glass.
It's a little awkward for me, b/c it's taking me off guard and i'm already pretty quiet around the office. It's almost like, "who me, [looks behind] are you talking to me?"